Jenkins et al.[3] reported the discovery of a wholly unique new species of rodent, Laonastes aenigmamus, for which they created a new family, Laonastidae.

Dawson, et al,[4] re-evaluated the phylogenetic position of Laonastes based on morphology and included fossil taxa in their analysis.

They also described the Diatomyidae as a Lazarus taxon due to the 11-million-year gap between the most recent diatomyid in the fossil record and the existence of Laonastes today.

The only other comparable length of time for a mammal Lazarus taxon is the monito del monte, which is part of a family (Microbiotheriidae), also most recently known from Miocene deposits.

The single premolar on both the upper and lower tooth rows is enlarged (unlike the reduced state in Ctenodactylidae).

Neither analysis, however, showed entirely robust statistical support for the position of Laonastes within the hystricognaths; altogether, it appeared to belong among the basal African radiation.

Dawson's fossil study[4] was corroborated by more comprehensive DNA sequence analyses,[11] which suggested a roughly Lutetian (about 44 Mya, Early/Middle Eocene) divergence date between the ancestors of the Laotian rock rat and the African gundis, which are each other's closest living relatives.

[12] Alternatively, the entire Ctenodactyloidea might be of African origin, or the lineage split took place on India as it joined the Asian mainland, with the gundis reaching Africa via the Mascarene Plateau's archipelagos and island continents.