The rodent parvorder or infraorder Phiomorpha comprises several living and extinct families found wholly or largely in Africa. Along with the Anomaluromorpha and perhaps the †Zegdoumyidae, they represent one of the few early colonizations of Africa by rodents.During the Oligocene, Africa was not connected to any of the other continents. The predominant theory suggests that rodents first evolved in Laurasia, and expanded outward from there.