Palæos:		Unit 500: Ferae
The Vertebrates		Ferae

Ferae

EUTHERIA
|--INSECTIVORA
`--+--+--ANAGALIDA     
   |  `--ARCHONTA
   `--+--Ferae
      `--UNGULATOMORPHA

Taxa on This Page

1. Ferae

Ferae: cats, dogs & seals. 

Range: from the Early Paleocene

Phylogeny: Epitheria :::: Ungulatomorpha + *. 

Characters: dental formula generally 3/3, 1/1, 2-4/2-4, 1-2/1-3; canines large & conical; carnassials present (P4 & m1 in all living forms); all teeth rooted; tight jaw joint with limited transverse or rotary jaw movement; turbinals large; expanded olfactory epithelium & keen sense of smell; orbit usually confluent with temporal fossa; enlarged braincase; frontal-parietal suture posterior to postorbital constriction; at least partially ossified entotympanic fused to skull; fusion of scaphoid and lunar (carpals) in extant species; digits generally 5/5; femoral 3rd trochanter absent; generally carnivorous. 

Links: Phylo.gen; Mammalogy - Lecture 1.

Note: this clade unites the extant Carnivora with the extinct Creodonta. Since these have generally been considered separate orders, there are relatively few sources which consider the Ferae as such. ATW010910.

checked ATW051005