stemLaurasiatheria

Laurasiatheria is a proposed monophyletic clade that encompasses many of the placental mammals that inhabit the Earth today. This group includes a vast array of familiar animals, from common pets to large wild mammals. The name "Laurasiatheria" refers to the supercontinent Laurasia, from which the constituent taxa are hypothesized to have originated.

The major orders within Laurasiatheria are typically divided into two main superorders: Ferungulata and Cetartiodactyla. Ferungulata is a diverse group that includes Carnivora (carnivores like cats, dogs, and bears), Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates like pigs, hippos, deer, and cattle), Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates like horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs), and Pholidota (pangolins). Cetartiodactyla, a more recently recognized grouping, combines Cetacea (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) with Artiodactyla, reflecting strong molecular evidence for a close relationship between these groups, with whales now considered to be derived from within artiodactyls.

Other notable groups within Laurasiatheria include Chiroptera (bats), Eulipotyphla (formerly Insectivora, including hedgehogs, shrews, and moles), and sometimes the extinct order Mesonychia. The precise phylogenetic relationships within Laurasiatheria are still a subject of ongoing research, with different studies sometimes proposing slightly varied arrangements of the orders. However, the overall recognition of Laurasiatheria as a major mammalian superclade is widely accepted in modern evolutionary biology.