Taxon exclusion in the Everson et al 2016 study on Madagascar tenrecs

Everson et al 2016 wrote:
“The family Tenrecidae (tenrecs) is one of only four extant terrestrial mammal lineages to have colonized and diversified on Madagascar.

Colonized? No. Stranded and isolated before the Cretaceous split? Yes.

“We reconstructed the phylogeny of Tenrecidae using multiple loci from all recognized extant species and estimated divergence timing using six fossil calibrations within Afrotheria. All phylogenetic analyses strongly support monophyly of the Malagasy tenrecs, and our divergence timing analysis places their colonization of the island at 30–56
Ma.”

Afrotheria is a genomic clade not supported by the large reptile tree (LRT, 2324 taxa) which is built using traits from extant and fossil taxa.

You might think shrews
would be in this clade of small terrestrial taxa, but shrews nest with arboreal Apatemyidae in the LRT. Here (Fig 3) is the current hypothesis of interrelationships in the LRT focused on Anagalia. These are the taxa that should have been included in the Everson et al paper.

One of the problems
with learning from textbooks and lectures at the university level is the sense that these sources represent the basic facts and clades known in 2024. Unfortunately this sense is a self-perpetuating myth in which present and future textbook authors and professors cite past textbook authors and professors. And that clears everyone of any further responsibility and slows down the pace of discovery in paleontology.

That’s why the LRT is here. To provide tested taxon lists for more focused studies.

References
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Everson KM, et al (3 co-authors) 2016. Multiple Loci and Complete Taxonomic Sampling Resolve the Phylogeny and Biogeographic History of Tenrecs (Mammalia: Tenrecidae) and Reveal Higher Speciation Rates in Madagascar’s Humid Forests. Syst. Biol. 65(5):890–909, 2016
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wiki/Andrewsiphius
wiki/Hemicentetes
wiki/Tenrec
wiki/Phiomicetus
wiki/Potamogale
wiki/Micropotamogale
reptileevolution.com/hemicentetes
reptileevolution.com/potamogale
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4841219/