Epoicotheriidae
| Epoicotheriidae | |
|---|---|
| Artist reconstruction of Xenocranium pileorivale compared to the size of a human hand. | |
| skull of Pentapassalus pearcei | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Palaeanodonta |
| Family: | †Epoicotheriidae Simpson, 1927 |
| Type genus | |
| †Epoicotherium Simpson, 1927 | |
| Genera | |
|
[see classification] | |
Epoicotheriidae ("strange beasts") is an extinct paraphyletic family of insectivorous placental mammals within extinct order Palaeanodonta, that lived in North America, Asia and Europe from the late Paleocene to early Oligocene. Epoicotheriids were fossorial mammals. Late Eocene/early Oligocene genera were highly specialized animals that were convergent with the talpids, golden moles and marsupial mole in the structure of their skulls and forelimbs, and would have had a similar lifestyle as subterranean burrowers.