Groeberiidae
| Groeberiidae Temporal range: Eocene - Oligocene 45–28 Ma |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Gondwanatheria |
| Family: |
†Groeberiidae Patterson, 1952 |
| Genera | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Groeberidae |
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Groeberidae
Groeberiidae is a family of strange non-placental mammals from the Eocene and Oligocene epochs of Patagonia, Argentina and Chile, South America. Originally classified as paucituberculate marsupials, they are now agreed to be late representatives of the allothere clade Gondwanatheria.
The type species, Groeberia minoprioi, was first described by Bryan Patterson in 1952. This type specimen, MMP 738, is composed of a mandibular symphisis, incisors and four broken molars. A second species within the genus, Groeberia pattersoni, was described by G. G. Simpson in 1970, and is known from at least two specimens. Both occur in the Disadero Largo Formation deposits dating to the Eocene.
Flynn & Wyss 1999 would go on to describe the Oligocene species Klohnia charrieri, and Goin et all 2010 the taxa Klohnia major, Epiklohnia verticalis and Praedens aberrans, all also dating to this epoch.
Recently, Chimento et al. 2013 re-examined Groeberia and understood its allothere affinities. Other taxa were not included in this examination for so far unspecified reasons, rendering their status as part of the clade unknown.
For most of their history, groeberiids were thought to be paucituberculate marsupials. Though currently represented only by shrew opossums, through most of the Cenozoic Paucituberculata also included a variety of rodent-like species, making this assessment somewhat sound. However, this classification was provisory at best, as compared to other paucituberculates groeberiids were highly aberrant. A few differing opinions included Simpson & Wyss 1999, which considered these animals to be diprotodontians, and Pascual 1994 and Simpson 1970, which saw them as Metatheria incertae sedis, both of which contested.
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