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The Origin of Rodents and Lagomorphs

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Current Mammalogy

Abstract

Although the two major groups of gliriform mammals, the rodents and lagomorphs, are frequently grouped together by nonspecialists, the opinion of both paleontologists and neomammalogists has long been that the two orders are not closely related. Now, new evidence on this question has come from recent fossil discoveries in China and from reevaluation of other evidence, especially developmental. After a review of the past interpretations and new evidence, we return to the view that the Lagomorpha and Rodentia can be traced to a common ancestral group and that the Cohort Glires is a valid taxonomic unit.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Academia Sinica, Beijing, China

    Li Chuan-Kuei

  2. Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 66045, USA

    Robert W. Wilson

  3. Section of Vertebrate Fossils, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213, USA

    Mary R. Dawson & Leonard Krishtalka

Authors
  1. Li Chuan-Kuei
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  2. Robert W. Wilson
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  3. Mary R. Dawson
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  4. Leonard Krishtalka
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

    Hugh H. Genoways

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© 1987 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Chuan-Kuei, L., Wilson, R.W., Dawson, M.R., Krishtalka, L. (1987). The Origin of Rodents and Lagomorphs. In: Genoways, H.H. (eds) Current Mammalogy. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9909-5_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9909-5_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-9911-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-9909-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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