Paenungulata

Paenungulata, 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).

Of the three extant Paenungulate orders, hyraxes (Procaviidae) are sister to a clade containing the sirenians and elephants. The latter two, together with the extinct order Embrithopoda, are grouped as the Tethytheria, because it is believed that their common ancestors lived on the shores of the prehistoric Tethys Sea; however, recent myoglobin studies indicate that even Hyracoidea had an aquatic ancestor.