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Scrotifera ("scrotum bearers") is a clade of Placentalia that groups together grandorder Ferungulata, Chiroptera (bats), other extinct members and their common ancestors. The clade Scrotifera is a sister group to the order Eulipotyphla (true insectivores) based on evidence from molecular phylogenetics, and together they make superorder Laurasiatheria. The last common ancestor of Scrotifera is supposed to have diversified ca. 73.1 to 85.5 million years ago.
The name comes from the word scrotum, a pouch in which the Testicle permanently reside in the adult male. All members of the group have a postpenile scrotum, often prominently displayed, except for some aquatic forms and pangolin (which has the testes just below the skin). It appears to be an ancestral character for this group, yet other orders generally lack this as an ancestral feature, with the probable exception of .
According to a 2022 study, two extinct species ( Eosoricodon and "Wyonycteris" microtis) were identified as outside of the family Nyctitheriidae and more closely related mammals to bats.Matthew F. Jones, Nancy Simmons, K. Christopher Beard (2022.) "Relationship of nyctitheres (Mammalia, Nyctitheriidae) to bats and other laurasiatherians", in "The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 82nd annual meeting" In another 2022 study, the extinct genus Acmeodon was recognized as not a member of the extinct order Cimolesta but a basal mammal in the clade Scrotifera.
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