[VadeRetro]

Howdy! I was wondering if you could comment as to what came before Hyracotherium? I have been doing some reading and have yet to find anything that fills the 'gap'.

Hyracotherium is barely more specialized than a small, late condylarth. Condylarths are the likely ancestors of the even-and-odd toed ungulates and perhaps a few other groups, I forget.

[RightWingAtheist]

Among a few other groups believed to be directly descended from condylarths-elephants, hyraxes, aardvarks and manatees. Whales were at one time believed to be directly descended from them, but are now known to be indirect descendants, as primitive cetecans have been shown to have directly evolved (or branched off from a common ancestor of)articodactyls. Some sources also maintain that lagomorphs (rabbits and hares) and rodents are also directly descended from condylarths.