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Let’s compare Anoplotherium to Palaeosinopa

Wednesday, September 23, 2026 15:22

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Badiola et al 2023 wrote,
“Anoplotheriines (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) were enigmatic, medium- to large-sized ungulates that lived in Western Europe from the late middle Eocene to the earliest Oligocene. The unusual dental and postcranial specializations of these Paleogene mammals have no equivalent in other Cenozoic or contemporaneous artiodactyls on Holarctic landmasses. They appeared abruptly on the Central European Island around the middle to late Eocene transition, but their origin and dispersal through the different areas of the Eocene European archipelago are uncertain.”

This is where the large reptile tree (LRT, 2340) can help.

“Some anoplotheriines were relatively heavily built ungulates (the large-sized ones, such as Anoplotherium, ranged between 115 and 271 kg) with short limbs. They had unique dental and postcranial specializations without any equivalent in contemporaneous mammalian groups that inhabited other Holarctic landmasses.”

Turns out, despite the hooves and reduced digit number, anoplotheres are not ungulates. Instead anoplotheres represent an overlooked case of convergence.

Figure 1. Anoplotherium here compared to Palaeosinopa to scale and to length.

The fingers and toes are not the same,
but the face and tail still bear a family resemblance when one compares enigmatic Eocene Anoplotherium to Eocene Palaeosinopa, a marsupial water opossum in the LRT. That makes Anoplotherium a marsupial, too – unless it represents yet another appearance of placental reproduction to go along with the other two.

Yesterday the an apex carnivore, Megistotherium, joined Anoplotherium (Figs 1, 2) in the LRT. That has not changed with today’s herbivorous additions to that newly recognized clade.

Figure 2. The skulls of Anoplotherium and Palaeosinopa compared to size and to scale. Dacrytherium is a close relative with relatively longer, more gracile = deer-like limbs.

The interest in these two taxa can only grow
as we see other ungulate-convergent taxa (Figs 3, 4) also join this clade in the LRT.

Figure 3. Macrauchenia is the last and largest member of this new clade.

Figure 4. Theosodon is a deer-like relative of Macrauchenia in many cladograms. Now it is a marsupial, unless it had its own placental conversion. The many teeth are a shared trait along with the maxilla contribution to the naris.

References
Badiola et al (3 co-authors) 2023. First clear evidence of Anoplotherium (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) in the Iberian Peninsula: an update on the Iberian anoplotheriines. The Anatomical Record https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25238

Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2026/09/24/lets-compare-anoplotherium-to-palaeosinopa/

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