Laonastidae
| Diatomyidae Temporal range: 32.5–0 Ma Early Oligocene - Recent |
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| Young male Laonastes aenigmamus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Suborder: | Hystricomorpha |
| Family: |
Diatomyidae Mein & Ginsburg, 1997 |
| Genera | |
Laonastes
†Diatomys
†Fallomus
†Marymus
†Pierremus
†Willmus
The hystricomorphous sciurognathous rodent family Diatomyidae, found in Asia, is represented by a single known living species, Laonastes aenigmamus.
Prior to the discovery of Laonastes, the family Diatomyidae was known only from fossils. The family has a nearly continuous fossil range from Early Oligocene fossils of Fallomus from the Lower Chitarwata Formation (32.5 million years ago, Bugti Member, Bugti Hills,) in Balochistan, Pakistan, to Middle/Late Miocene fossils (11 Mya) of Diatomys.
Jenkins et al. reported the discovery of a wholly unique new species of rodent, Laonastes aenigmamus, for which they created a new family, Laonastidae. They suggested it was a hystricognath rodent, but basal to all other hystricognaths. Dawson, et al, re-evaluated the phylogenetic position of Laonastes based on morphology and included fossil taxa in their analysis. They determined Laonastes is actually sciurognathous and belongs to the Diatomyidae. They also described the Diatomyidae as a Lazarus taxon due to the 11-million-year gap between the most recent diatomyid in the fossil record and the existence of Laonastes today. The only other comparable length of time for a mammal Lazarus taxon is the monito del monte, which is part of a family (Microbiotheriidae), also most recently known from Miocene deposits. Mary Dawson described Laonastes as the "coelacanth of rodents" [2].
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