Condylarthra

▪ mammal order

 extinct group of mammals (mammal) that includes the ancestral forms of later, more advanced ungulates (ungulate) (that is, hoofed placental mammals (placental mammal)). The name Condylarthra was once applied to a formal taxonomic order, but it is now used informally to refer to ungulates of Late Cretaceous (Cretaceous Period) and Early Paleogene (Paleogene Period) times. Their greatest diversity occurred during the Paleocene Epoch (65.5–55.8 million years ago), but similar forms persisted into the middle of Oligocene Epoch and died out about 30 million years ago.

      Condylarths appear to have originated in Asia during the Cretaceous Period (145.5–65.5 million years ago). The earliest condylarths were the zhelestids, rodent-sized ungulates from the late Cretaceous of Uzbekistan. A somewhat later North American form is the genus Protungulatum that lived near the end of Cretaceous or early in the Paleocene.

      The condylarths were a diverse group that developed many traits of adaptive significance; they are thought to be the ancestors of the perissodactyls (perissodactyl) and perhaps even the cetaceans (cetacean). Some forms remained relatively small, whereas others attained large size. Phenacodus, a well-known condylarth from the Eocene Epoch (55.8–33.9 million years ago), grew to be as large as a modern tapir. In addition, the teeth of some condylarths appear almost carnivore-like (carnivore); Arctocyon, for example, has long canines and triangular premolars.

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