Gaudin T.J., Gaubert Philippe, Billet G., Hautier L., Ferreira-Cardoso S., Wible J.R. (2020). Evolution and morphology. In :
Challender D.W.S. (ed.), Nash H.C. (ed.), Waterman C. (ed). Pangolins : science, society and conservation. Londres : Academic Press, p. 5-23. (Biodiversity of World : Conservation from Genes to Landscapes). ISBN 978-0-12-815507-3.
Challender D.W.S. (ed.), Nash H.C. (ed.), Waterman C. (ed), Pangolins : science, society and conservation
Source
Londres : Academic Press, 2020,
p. 5-23 (Biodiversity of World : Conservation from Genes to Landscapes). ISBN 978-0-12-815507-3
Pangolins'evolutionary history is poorly known, with historically uncertain relationships to other placental mammals, and weak representation in the fossil record. Their closest relatives are extinct Palaeanodonta and extant Carnivora. The oldest fossil pangolins come from the European Eocene, with early records confined to Laurasia, and a modern range established in the Plio-Pleistocene. Extant pangolins are characterized by many distinctive anatomical features, including an external armor of epidermal scales, along with traits associated with myrmecophagous, fossorial, and arboreal habits. Their skull is edentulous and narrow. The postcranial skeleton is marked by powerful digging claws and forelimbs, and a prehensile tail in some forms. The tongue is attached to an elongated xiphisternum. Food is masticated in a stomach containing horny denticles. Females have axillary nipples and a bicornuate uterus; males lack a scrotum. The vascular system includes several retia mirabilia, and the carnivoran-like brain has a low encephalization quotient.
