Artiodactyl with thumbs, Agriochoerus latifrons, now close to the giant lemur, Megaladaspis
Sometimes transitional taxa
mix and blend primitive and derived traits.
This time transitional taxa,
Agriochoerus latifrons and Megaladaspis edwardsi (Figs 1, 2) share traits not found in primitive and derived taxa. They went their own way. Details follow.
Apparently
no one saw this coming, despite the fact that all the clues were present (Figs 1, 2), waiting to be recognized = discovered. The first hints came a few weeks ago (Fig 2) with comparisons to Nasua (Figs 1, 2), the extant coatimundi.
The large reptile tree (LRT, 2325 taxa) gets all the credit for this by minimizing taxon exclusion. All I did was to finally accept and report the results.
Figure 1. Nasua, Notharctus and Megaladapis transition to Agriochoerus latifrons, the most primitive artiodactyl in the LRT. Note the diastema and upper fangs anterior to the lower fangs, not seen in other LRT taxa.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/megaladapis.agriochoerus_latifrons588.jpg?w=186″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/megaladapis.agriochoerus_latifrons588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-90044″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/megaladapis.agriochoerus_latifrons588.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Nasua, Notharctus and Megaladapis transition to Agriochoerus latifrons, the most primitive artiodactyl in the LRT. Note the diastema and upper fangs anterior to the lower fangs, not seen in other LRT taxa.” width=”584″ height=”940″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/megaladapis.agriochoerus_latifrons588.jpg?w=584&h=940 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/megaladapis.agriochoerus_latifrons588.jpg?w=93&h=150 93w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/megaladapis.agriochoerus_latifrons588.jpg?w=186&h=300 186w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/megaladapis.agriochoerus_latifrons588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 1. Nasua, Notharctus and Megaladapis transition to Agriochoerus latifrons, the most primitive artiodactyl in the LRT. Note the diastema and upper fangs anterior to the lower fangs, not seen in other LRT taxa. Other giant lemur primates in the LRT don’t have such fangs and don’t have a diastema.
Let’s start with
Agriochoerus latifrons (Figs. 1, 2). This odd Eocene–Oligocene North American artiodactyl close to oreodonts had vestige thumbs and an odd arrangement of the canines in which the uppers were anterior to the lowers. A diastema preceded the premolars. The last premolars were molarized. It had claws (like Nasua), not hooves, not nails, and thus was likely scansorial (= a tree climber). The limbs were longer than in related oreodonts and hippos.
The postfrontal (orange) appears to be broken off. Related taxa all have a complete postorbital bar.
By comparison
Pleistocene–Holocene Madagascaran Megaladaspis (Fig 1) was different from living and extinct lemurs. It had an odd arrangement of the canines in which the uppers were anterior to the lowers. A diastema preceded the premolars. It had more molars than premolars. The diet was strictly herbivorous. Unlike other primates, but like artiodactyls, the orbits had begun to rotate laterally. The brain was relatively small, as in artiodactyls. Overall Megaladaspis was twice the size of any other lemur and probably slow-moving.
In counterpoint, Megaladaspis had long, slender, curved digits, so rarely traveled on the ground, but stayed clinging to tree branches.
Figure 1. Nasua, the coatimundi, compared to Notharctus, the basal primate and Agriochoerus latifrons, the basal artiodactyl in the LRT.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/notharctus-agriochoerus.latifrons588.jpg?w=161″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/notharctus-agriochoerus.latifrons588.jpg?w=549″ class=”size-full wp-image-89294″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/notharctus-agriochoerus.latifrons588.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Nasua, the coatimundi, compared to Agriochoerus latifrons, the basal artiodactyl in the LRT.” width=”584″ height=”1089″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/notharctus-agriochoerus.latifrons588.jpg?w=584&h=1089 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/notharctus-agriochoerus.latifrons588.jpg?w=80&h=150 80w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/notharctus-agriochoerus.latifrons588.jpg?w=161&h=300 161w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/notharctus-agriochoerus.latifrons588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 1. Nasua, the coatimundi, compared to Notharctus, the basal primate and Agriochoerus latifrons, the basal artiodactyl in the LRT.
Lemurs and artiodactyls
share a long gestation period in which the young are able to cling to or follow their mother shortly after birth. Both travel in herds = troops.
Odd Eocene European Lophiaspis
(Fig 3), traditionally considered a perissodactyl, follows Agriochoerus latifrons into this novel interrelationship with lemuroid primates, a relationship recovered by the LRT earlier here.
Figure 2. Agriochoerus latifrons compared to the much larger Lophiodon.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/agriochoerus-lophiodon.skulls588.jpg?w=204″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/agriochoerus-lophiodon.skulls588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-87588″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/agriochoerus-lophiodon.skulls588.jpg” alt=”Figure 2. Agriochoerus latifrons compared to the much larger Lophiodon.” width=”584″ height=”858″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/agriochoerus-lophiodon.skulls588.jpg?w=584&h=858 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/agriochoerus-lophiodon.skulls588.jpg?w=102&h=150 102w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/agriochoerus-lophiodon.skulls588.jpg?w=204&h=300 204w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/agriochoerus-lophiodon.skulls588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 2. Agriochoerus latifrons compared to the much larger Lophiodon.
This broad distribution of lemuroids transitioning to artiodactyls,
plus the recovery of more primitive taxa, like extinct Notharctus (Fig 1) and extant Nasua (Figs 1, 2) from North America, suggests a much wider and much older distribution of large, slow-moving lemuroids than their recent restriction to Madagascar otherwise indicates.
This appears to be a novel hypothesis of interrelationships.
If not please provide a citation so I can promote it here. As reported a few weeks earlier, “The LRT tells us that hippos and blue whales had lemur-like ancestors, perhaps with thumbs.”
Ironically, when Megaladaspis first entered the LRT, I reported, “No surprises here.”
References
Leidy J 1869. Extinct Mammals of Dakota and Nebraska:Including an account of some allied forms from other localities, together with a synopsis of the mammalian remains of North America., Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 2(7): 135–141.
Major CIF 1894. On Megaladapis madagascariensis, an Extinct Gigantic Lemuroid from Madagascar; with Remarks on the Associated Fauna, and on Its Geological Age.
Major CIF 1900. Extinct Mammalia from Madagascar. I. Megaladapis insignis, sp. N. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 193 (185–193): 47–50.Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 185: 15–38.
Rose KD 1996. On the origin of Artiodactyla. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 93:1705–1709.
Wortman JL 1895. On the osteology of Agriochoerus. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 7(4):145–179.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megaladapis
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2024/11/26/artiodactyl-with-thumbs-agriochoerus-latifrons-now-close-to-the-giant-lemur-megaladaspis/
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