Orycteropus

Orycteropus; Temporal range: Late Miocene–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	Orycteropus afer – Aardvark
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Tubulidentata
Family:	Orycteropodidae
Genus:	Orycteropus; É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1796
Type species
	Myrmecophaga afra; Pallas, 1766
Species
	4, see text

Orycteropus is a genus of mammals in the family Orycteropodidae within Tubulidentata.^[2] The genus is known from Late Miocene to recent of Africa.^[3]

The only living species within Tubulidentata is the aardvark (Orycteropus afer).

Species[edit]

Three species are recognized:^[3]

Orycteropus afer (Pallas, 1766) – aardvark – Palaeolithic to Recent of Africa
† Orycteropus abundulafus Lehmann, Vignaud, Likius & Brunet, 2005
† Orycteropus crassidens MacInnes, 1955^[4] – Pleistocene of Kenya
† Orycteropus djourabensis Lehmann, Vignaud, Mackaye & Brunet, 2004^[5] – Early Pliocene to Early Pleistocene of Chad and Kenya

Other species previously assigned to Orycteropus are now classified in the genus Amphiorycteropus.^[3]

^ Woodman, Neal (2021). "Whence Orycteropus? The correct authorship and date for the generic name of the aardvark (Mammalia, Tubulidentata, Orycteropodidae)". Bionomina. 25 (1): 21–34. doi:10.11646/bionomina.25.1.2. S2CID 245309737.
^ Schlitter, D.A. (2005). "Order Tubulidentata". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
^ ^a ^b ^c Lehmann, T. (2009). "Phylogeny and systematics of the Orycteropodidae (Mammalia, Tubulidentata)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 155 (3): 649–702. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00460.x.
^ MacInnes, D.G. (1955). "Fossil Tubulidentata from East Africa". Fossil Mammals of Africa. 10: 1–38.
^ Lehmann, T.; Vignaud, P.; Mackaye, H.T.; Brunet, M. (2004). "A fossil aardvark (Mammalia, Tubulidentata) from the lower Pliocene of Chad" (PDF). Journal of African Earth Sciences. 40 (5): 201–217. Bibcode:2004JAfES..40..201L. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2005.01.001.