Laurasiatheria

Laurasiatheria is a clade of rank cohort or super-order, within the Placentalia (living) or Eutheria (Placentals and their extinct ancestors) infraclass of mammals, based on DNA sequence analyses and Retrotransposon presence/absence data. The name comes from the theory that these mammals evolved on the supercontinent of Laurasia, after it split from Gondwana when Pangaea broke up. It is a sister group to Euarchontoglires (Supraprimates) and Afrotheria. It includes the following extant orders:


 * Erinaceomorpha: hedgehogs and gymnures
 * Soricomorpha: moles, shrews, solenodons (cosmopolitan)
 * Cetartiodactyla: cosmopolitan; includes former orders Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises) and Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates, including pigs, hippopotamus, camels, giraffe, deer, antelope, cattle, sheep, goats)
 * Pegasoferae:
 * Pholidota: pangolins or scaly anteaters (Africa, South Asia)
 * Chiroptera: bats (cosmopolitan)
 * Carnivora: carnivores (cosmopolitan)
 * Perissodactyla: odd-toed ungulates

Within the Laurasiatheria, the Erinaceomorpha appears (surprisingly) to be the most divergent branch. Some studies link the Perissodactyla and Ferae in a clade Zooamata; others link Perissodactyla and Cetartiodactyla in a clade of true ungulates. Neither clade is well supported.

Laurasiatheria is also posited to include several extinct orders and superorders:


 * Meridiungulata
 * Condylarthra
 * Dinocerata
 * Mesonychia
 * Cimolesta
 * Creodonta