Editing Pangolin (section)

===Phylogeny===
====Among placentals====
{{see also|Pholidotamorpha}}

The order Pholidota was long considered to be the [[sister taxon]] to [[Xenarthra]] (neotropical [[anteater]]s, [[sloth]]s, and [[armadillo]]s), but recent genetic evidence indicates their closest living relatives are the [[carnivora]]ns, with which they form a [[clade]], the [[Ferae]].<ref>{{cite journal |name-list-style=vanc |display-authors=2 |last1=Murphy |first1=William J. |last2=Eizirik |first2=Eduardo |last3=O'Brien |first3=Stephen J. |last4=Madsen |first4=Ole |last5=Scally |first5=Mark |last6=Douady |first6=Christophe J. |last7=Teeling |first7=Emma |last8=Ryder |first8=Oliver A. |last9=Stanhope |first9=Michael J. |last10=de Jong |first10=Wilfried W. |last11=Springer |first11=Mark S. |date=14 December 2001 |title=Resolution of the Early Placental Mammal Radiation Using Bayesian Phylogenetics |journal=Science |doi=10.1126/science.1067179 |pmid=11743200 |bibcode=2001Sci...294.2348M |volume=294 |issue=5550 |pages=2348–2351 |s2cid=34367609}}</ref><ref name="AmrineMadsen2003">{{cite journal |author=Amrine-Madsen, H. |author2=Koepfli, K.P. |author3=Wayne, R.K. |author4=Springer, M.S. |year=2003 |title=A new phylogenetic marker, apolipoprotein B, provides compelling evidence for eutherian relationships |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=225–240 |doi=10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00118-0 |pmid=12878460|bibcode=2003MolPE..28..225A }}</ref><ref name="Beck et al 2006">{{cite journal |first1=Robin |last1=Beck |first2=Olaf |last2=Bininda-Emonds |first3=Marcel |last3=Cardillo |first4=Fu-Guo |last4=Liu |first5=Andy |last5=Purvis |title=A higher-level MRP supertree of placental mammals |journal=[[BMC Evolutionary Biology]] |publisher=[[BioMed Central]] |location=London, England |date=2006 |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=93 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-6-93 |pmid=17101039 |pmc=1654192 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Du Toit2014">{{cite journal |last1=Du Toit |first1=Z. |last2=Grobler |first2=J. P. |last3=Kotzé |first3=A. |last4=Jansen |first4=R. |last5=Brettschneider |first5=H. |last6=Dalton |first6=D. L. |title=The complete mitochondrial genome of Temminck's ground pangolin (''Smutsia temminckii''; Smuts, 1832) and phylogenetic position of the Pholidota (Weber, 1904) |journal=Gene |volume=551 |issue=1 |year=2014 |pages=49–54 |doi=10.1016/j.gene.2014.08.040 |pmid=25158133}}</ref> [[Palaeanodonta|Palaeanodonts]] are even closer relatives to pangolins, being classified with pangolins in the clade [[Pholidotamorpha]].<ref name="KondrashovAgadjanian2012">{{cite journal |last1=Kondrashov |first1=Peter |last2=Agadjanian |first2=Alexandre K. |year=2012 |title=A nearly complete skeleton of ''Ernanodon'' (Mammalia, Palaeanodonta) from Mongolia: morphofunctional analysis |journal=[[Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology]] |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|location=Bethesda Maryland |doi=10.1080/02724634.2012.694319 |volume=32 |issue=5 |pages=983–1001 |bibcode=2012JVPal..32..983K |s2cid=86059673}}</ref> The split between carnivorans and pangolins is estimated to have occurred 79.47 [[mega-annum|Ma]] (million years) ago.<ref name="Heighton2023"/>

====Among Manidae====
The first dichotomy in the [[phylogeny]] of extant Manidae separates Asian pangolins (''Manis'') from African pangolins (''Smutsia'' and ''Phataginus'').<ref name="Du Toit2014"/> Within the former, ''Manis pentadactyla'' is the [[sister group]] to a clade comprising ''M. crassicaudata'' and ''M. javanica''. Within the latter, a split separates the large terrestrial African pangolins of the genus ''Smutsia'' from the small arboreal African pangolins of the genus ''Phataginus''.<ref name="Gaubert2018">{{Cite journal |last1=Gaubert |first1=Philippe |last2=Antunes |first2=Agostinho |last3=Meng |first3=Hao |last4=Miao |first4=Lin |last5=Peigné |first5=Stéphane |last6=Justy |first6=Fabienne |last7=Njiokou |first7=Flobert |last8=Dufour |first8=Sylvain |last9=Danquah |first9=Emmanuel |last10=Alahakoon |first10=Jayanthi |last11=Verheyen |first11=Erik |date=11 May 2018 |title=The Complete Phylogeny of Pangolins: Scaling Up Resources for the Molecular Tracing of the Most Trafficked Mammals on Earth |journal=Journal of Heredity |language=en |volume=109 |issue=4 |pages=347–359 |doi=10.1093/jhered/esx097 |pmid=29140441 |doi-access=}}</ref>

Asian and African pangolins are thought to have diverged about 41.37 Ma ago.<ref name="Heighton2023">Sean P. Heighton, Rémi Allio, Jérôme Murienne, Jordi Salmona, Hao Meng, Céline Scornavacca, Armanda D. S. Bastos, Flobert Njiokou, Darren W. Pietersen, Marie-Ka Tilak, Shu-Jin Luo, Frédéric Delsuc, Philippe Gaubert (2023.) [https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.02.16.528682v1 "Pangolin genomes offer key insights and resources for the world's most trafficked wild mammals"]</ref> Moreover, the [[basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] position of ''Manis'' within Pholidota<ref name="Du Toit2014"/><ref name="du Toit2017">{{cite journal |last1=du Toit |first1=Z. |last2=du Plessis |first2= M. |last3=Dalton |first3=D. L. |last4=Jansen |first4=R. |last5=Paul Grobler |first5=J. |last6=Kotzé |first6=A. |title=Mitochondrial genomes of African pangolins and insights into evolutionary patterns and phylogeny of the family Manidae |journal=BMC Genomics |volume=18 |issue=1 |year=2017 |doi=10.1186/s12864-017-4140-5 |pmid=28934931 |doi-access=free |pmc=5609056 |page=746}}</ref> suggests the group originated in Eurasia, consistent with their [[laurasiatheria]]n phylogeny.<ref name="Du Toit2014"/>