Pholidota is an order of placental mammals in the Pholidotamorpha clade. A member of this order is called a pholidotan or a pangolin. They are distributed throughout Africa, the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia, and are usually found in habitats such as savannas, forests, grasslands and shrublands. Pholidotans range in size from the giant pangolin, at and in length, to the tree pangolin, at only and in length. They have large, hardened, keratin scales which cover their skin, and long claws which they use for digging or climbing trees. Most species are nocturnal and feed primarily on ants and termites, though other insects may also be taken. Despite only a few pholidotans having population estimates, all eight species are classified as threatened by the IUCN Red List, with three being classified as critically endangered, largely due to intensive poaching of their keratin scales.

The eight extant species of Pholidota are assigned to the family Manidae which is split into three genera within three subfamilies: Maninae (Asian pangolins), Phatagininae (African tree pangolins) and Smutsiinae (African ground pangolins). A ninth species, Manis mysteria, was proposed in 2023, though its status as valid taxa remains uncertain. Around a dozen extinct prehistoric pholidotan species have been described; however, due to ongoing research the exact categorization and number is not fixed.

Conventions

The author citation for the species or genus is given after the scientific name; parentheses around the author citation indicate that this was not the original taxonomic placement. Conservation status codes listed follow the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Range maps are provided where possible; if unavailable, a description of the species will instead be provided. All extinct species and subspecies listed alongside extant species went extinct in prehistoric times, and are indicated by dagger symbol "". Population figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.

Classification

The Pholidota order is composed of eight extant species belonging to three genera in three subfamilies. This does not include extinct species or hybrid animals.

Family Manidae Subfamily Maninae Genus: Manis (Asian pangolins): four species Subfamily Phatagininae Genus: Phataginus (African tree pangolins): two species Subfamily Smutsiinae Genus: Smutsia (African ground pangolins): two species

Pholidotans The following classification is based on the taxonomy described by the reference work Mammal Species of the World (2005), with augmentation by generally accepted proposals made since using molecular phylogenetic analysis, as supported by the IUCN Red List.

Subfamily Maninae

Subfamily Phatagininae

Subfamily Smutsiinae

Prehistoric pholidotans In addition to extant species, multiple extinct species have been described and classified into Pholidota. They are placed into three extinct families: Eomanidae, Patriomanidae and Eurotamandua, as well as the extant family Manidae. The genus Necromanis on the other hand, is placed as incertae sedis within the pholidotid superfamily Manoidea, together with the families Manidae and Patriomanidae. Euromanis, a genus described in 2009, is not placed under any family and is instead assigned to the Pholidota order. The extinct species listed here are mainly based on the 2019 reference work Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation, unless otherwise cited. Where available, the temporal range of each species will be given in millions of years before the present time (mya). This list will only contain taxa that went extinct during prehistoric times.

Genus Euromanis – Gaudin, 2009 – 1 speciesSpecies nameImageGeological rangeBiogeography Euromanis krebsi Storch & Martin, 1994Messel Pit in Germany

Superfamily Manoidea

Genus Necromanis – Filhol, 1894 – 3 speciesSpecies nameImageGeological rangeBiogeographyNecromanis franconica Quenstedt, 1885 EuropeNecromanis parva Koenigswald, 1969 EuropeNecromanis quercyi Filhol, 1894 Europe

Family Patriomanidae

Genus Patriomanis – Emry, 1970 – 1 speciesSpecies nameImageGeological rangeBiogeographyPatriomanis americana Emry, 1970 North America

Genus Cryptomanis – Gaudin, Emry, and Pogue, 2006 – 1 speciesSpecies nameImageGeological rangeBiogeographyCryptomanis gobiensis Gaudin, Emry, and Pogue, 2006 Inner Mongolia, China

Family Eurotamanduidae Genus Eurotamandua – Storch, 1981 – 1 speciesSpecies nameImageGeological rangeBiogeography Eurotamandua joresi Storch, 1981 Messel Pit in Germany

Family Eomanidae

Genus Eomanis – Storch, 1978 – 1 speciesSpecies nameImageGeological rangeBiogeography Eomanis waldi Storch, 1978 Messel Pit in Germany

Family Manidae

Genus Manis – Linnaeus, 1758 – 3 speciesSpecies nameImageGeological rangeBiogeography Manis palaeojavanica Dubois, 1907 AsiaManis lydekkeri Dubois, 1908 UnknownManis hungarica Kormos, 1934 Unknown Unknown

Genus Smutsia – Gray, 1865 – 1 speciesSpecies nameImage Geological rangeBiogeography Smutsia olteniensis Terhune, Gaudin, Curran & Petculescu, 2021 Europe

See also Pholidotamorpha Pangolin trade

Notes

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