Kingdom Animalia Scientific name Zooamata | Phylum Chordata Higher classification Pegasoferae | |
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Lower classifications Carnivores, Pangolins, Bear, Weasel, Skunk | ||
Zooamata is a proposal for a clade of mammals uniting the Ferae (carnivores and pangolins) with the Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates). The name is constructed from Greek and Latin to mean "animal friends", a reference to the inclusion of cats, dogs, and horses.
Zoomata was proposed as one of the competing arrangements for the interordinal relationships of placental mammals within Laurasiatheria.. It received support in a phylogenenetic study using retroposon insertion analysis, where its was found to be the sister taxon to Chiroptera within a novel clade named Pegasoferae. The Zooamata and Cetartiodactyla (even-toed ungulates and whales) together form Scrotifera.
Subsequent molecular studies have generally failed to support the proposal. In particular, two recent phylogenomic studies analysing alternative theories for mammalian interordinal relationships concluded that Zooamata and Pegasoferae are not natural groupings. The competing proposal linking the Perissodactyla and Cetartiodactyla in a clade named Euungulata, as a sister to the Ferae, in Scrotifera received stronger support.
Phylogeny
The following cladogram shows the phylogenetic relationships of laurasiatherian mammals following Nishihara et al (2006).