Nyctitheriidae Temporal range:
| |
---|---|
SEM images of teeth and mandible fragments of Asionyctia guoi. From Missiaen and Smith, 2005. | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Lipotyphla |
Suborder: | Soricomorpha |
Family: | †Nyctitheriidae Simpson, 1928 |
Subfamilies | |
|
Nyctitheriidae is a family of extinct eulipotyphlan insectivores known from the Paleocene and Eocene epochs of North America and Asia and persisting into the Oligocene of Europe. Several genera, including Nyctitherium, Paradoxonycteris, and Wyonycteris, have initially been described as bats, although the family is more frequently placed in the order Eulipotyphla.