Euarchonta

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The Euarchonta are a superorder of mammals containing four orders: the Dermoptera or colugos, the Scandentia or tree shrews, the extinct Plesiadapiformes, and the Primates.

The term "Euarchonta" first appeared in the general scientific literature in 1999, when molecular evidence suggested that the morphology-based Archonta be trimmed down to exclude Chiroptera.

Some interpretations of the molecular data link Primates and Dermoptera in a clade known as Primatomorpha, which is the sister of Scandentia. In some the Dermoptera are a member of the primates rather than a sister. Other interpretations link the Dermoptera and Scandentia together as a sister of the primates. Together, the three are known as Euarchonta, the True Founders.

Euarchonta and Glires together form the Euarchontoglires, one of the four Eutherian clades.

Euarchontoglires
|-Glires
|  |-Rodentia
|  `-Lagomorpha (rabbits, etc)
`-Euarchonta
|-Scandentia (tree shrews)
`-Primatomorpha
|-Dermoptera (flying lemurs)
`-+-Plesiadapiformes
`--Primates

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