First Steps

The first aardvark fossil discovered was originally named Orycteropus gaudryi (now Amphiorycteropus) and was found in Turolian deposits on the island of Samos.[1] Since then, representatives of the order Tubulidentata have been located from the Oligocene in what is now Europe, and it is believed that the order probably originated around 65–70 million years ago or in the Paleocene.[4][5] They are thought to be closely related to the now extinct Ptolemaiida, a lineage of carnivorous afrotheres.[6][7] The family arose in Africa in the Early Miocene epoch, and spread to Eurasia later in the Miocene. Most of the family's diversity had become extinct by the end of the Pliocene.[1]