Afrotheria in the context of "Tenrecidae"

Ungulates are members of the diverse clade Euungulata, which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. Once part of the taxon "Ungulata" along with paenungulates and tubulidentates, as well as several extinct taxa, "Ungulata" has since been determined to be a polyphyletic grouping based on molecular data. As a result, true ungulates had since been reclassified to the newer clade Euungulata in 2001 within the clade Laurasiatheria, while Paenungulata and Tubulidentata had been reclassified to the distant clade Afrotheria. Alternatively, some authors use the name Ungulata to designate the same clade as Euungulata.

Living ungulates are divided into two orders: Perissodactyla including equines, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and Artiodactyla including cattle, antelope, pigs, giraffes, camels, sheep, deer, and hippopotamuses, among others. Cetaceans such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises are also classified as artiodactyls, although they do not have hooves. Most terrestrial ungulates use the hoofed tips of their toes to support their body weight while standing or moving. Two other orders of ungulates, Notoungulata and Litopterna, both native to South America, became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene, around 12,000 years ago.

Elephant shrews, also called jumping shrews or sengis, are small insectivorous mammals native to Africa, belonging to the family Macroscelididae, in the order Macroscelidea. Their traditional common English name "elephant shrew" comes from a perceived resemblance between their long noses and the trunk of an elephant, and their superficial similarity with shrews (family Soricidae) in the order Eulipotyphla. However, phylogenetic analysis has revealed that elephant shrews are not properly classified with true shrews, but are in fact more closely related to elephants than to shrews. In 1997, the biologist Jonathan Kingdon proposed that they instead be called "sengis" (singular sengi), a term derived from the Bantu languages of Africa, and in 1998, they were classified into the new clade Afrotheria.

They are widely distributed across the southern part of Africa, and although common nowhere, can be found in almost any type of habitat, from the Namib Desert to boulder-strewn outcrops in South Africa to thick forest. One species, the North African elephant shrew, remains in the semi-arid, mountainous country in the far northwest of Africa. The Somali elephant shrew went unobserved from 1968 to 2020 but was rediscovered by a group of scientists in Djibouti.

Paenungulata (from Latin paene 'almost' and ungulātus 'having hoofs'), also known as Uranotheria, is a clade of "sub-ungulates", which groups three extant mammal orders: Proboscidea (including elephants), Sirenia (sea cows, including dugongs and manatees), and Hyracoidea (hyraxes). At least two more possible orders are known only as fossils, namely Embrithopoda and Desmostylia.

Molecular evidence indicates that Paenungulata (or at least its extant members) is part of the cohort Afrotheria, an ancient assemblage of mainly African mammals of great diversity. The other members of this cohort are the orders Afrosoricida (tenrecs and golden moles), Macroscelidea (elephant shrews) and Tubulidentata (aardvarks).

Orycteropodidae is a family of afrotherian mammals. Although there are many fossil species, the only species surviving today is the aardvark (Orycteropus afer). Orycteropodidae is recognized as the only family within the order Tubulidentata, from the Latin words tubulis (tubule) and dentis (tooth), referring to the tubule-style teeth, so the two are effectively synonyms.

The North African elephant shrew (Petrosaltator rozeti) or North African sengi is a species of elephant shrew in the family Macroscelididae. It is found in Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia, and (since the extinction of the North African elephant) is the only extant afrotherian within its range. The species was formerly classified in the genus Elephantulus, but molecular evidence indicates that it is more closely related to Petrodromus than to other members of Elephantulus. It was moved to a new genus, Petrosaltator, in 2016.The split with Petrodromus likely occurred during the Miocene period.

Atlantogenata ("born around the Atlantic Ocean") is a magnorder of placental mammals containing the cohorts or superorders Xenarthra and Afrotheria. These groups originated and radiated in the South American and African continents, respectively, presumably in the Cretaceous. Together with Boreoeutheria, they make up Placentalia. The monophyly of this grouping is supported by some genetic evidence.

Alternative hypotheses are that Boreoeutheria and Afrotheria combine to form Epitheria (as generally supported by anatomical and other physiological evidence) or that Boreoeutheria and Xenarthra combine to form Exafroplacentalia or Notolegia.

Ungulates are members of the diverse clade Euungulata, which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. Once part of the taxon "Ungulata" along with paenungulates and tubulidentates, as well as several extinct taxa, "Ungulata" has since been determined to be a polyphyletic grouping based on molecular data. As a result, true ungulates have since been reclassified to the newer clade Euungulata in 2001 within the clade Laurasiatheria, while Paenungulata and Tubulidentata have been reclassified to the distant clade Afrotheria. Alternatively, some authors use the name Ungulata to designate the same clade as Euungulata.

Living ungulates are divided into two orders: Perissodactyla including equines, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and Artiodactyla including cattle, antelope, pigs, giraffes, camels, sheep, deer, and hippopotamuses, among others. Cetaceans such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises are also classified as artiodactyls, although they do not have hooves. Most terrestrial ungulates use the hoofed tips of their toes to support their body weight while standing or moving. Two other orders of ungulates, Notoungulata and Litopterna, both native to South America, became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene, around 12,000 years ago.