Extinct genus of endemic Paleogene European artiodactyls
Anoplotherium
Temporal range: Late Eocene – early Oligocene 37–33.4 Ma
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Anoplotherium commune incomplete skeleton from the commune of Pantin, National Museum of Natural History, France
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Artiodactyla
Family:
†Anoplotheriidae
Subfamily:
†Anoplotheriinae
Genus:
†Anoplotherium Cuvier, 1804
Type species
†Anoplotherium commune
Cuvier, 1804
Other species
†A. laurillardi Pomel, 1851
†A. latipes Gervais, 1852
†A. pompeckji Dietrich, 1922
Synonyms
Genus synonymy
EurytheriumGervais, 1852
Synonyms of A. commune
Anoplotherium duvmoyiPomel, 1851
Synonyms of A. latipes
Anoplotherium platypusPomel, 1851
Anoplotherium tridactylumKovalevsky, 1873
Synonyms of A. laurillardi
Anoplotherium cuvieriPomel, 1851
Anoplotherium is the type genus of the extinct Palaeogene artiodactyl family Anoplotheriidae, which was endemic to western Europe. It lived from the late Eocene to the earliest Oligocene. It was the fifth fossil mammal genus to be described with official taxonomic authority, with a history extending back to 1804 when its fossils from Montmartre in Paris, France were first described by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier. Discoveries of incomplete skeletons of A. commune in 1807 led Cuvier to thoroughly describe unusual features for which there are no modern analogues. His drawn skeletal and muscle reconstructions of A. commune in 1812 were amongst the first instances of anatomical reconstructions based on fossil evidence. Cuvier's contributions to palaeontology based on his works on the genus were revolutionary for the field, not only proving the developing ideas of extinction and ecological succession but also paving the way for subfields such as palaeoneurology. Today, there are four known species.
Anoplotherium was amongst the largest non-whippomorph artiodactyls of the Palaeogene period, weighing on average 115 kg (254 lb) to 271 kg (597 lb) and measuring at least 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) in head and body length and 1.25 m (4 ft 1 in) in shoulder height. It was an evolutionarily advanced and unusual artiodactyl, sporting three-toed feet in certain species like A. latipes, a long and robust tail, and a highly-developed brain with strong support for both sense of smell and sensory perception. Its overall robust build may have allowed it to stand bipedally to browse on plants at greater heights, reaching approximately 3 m (9.8 ft) tall, effectively competing with the few other medium to large herbivores it lived with. The full extent of its bipedalism needs to be confirmed by more research, however. The larger, two-toed A. commune and slightly smaller, three-toed A. latipes may be sexual dimorphs in that the former is female and the latter male, but this idea remains speculative. Its closest relative was Diplobune, which similarly is hypothesized to have had specialized behaviors.
The artiodactyl lived in western Europe back when it was an archipelago that was isolated from the rest of Eurasia, meaning that it lived in an environment with various other faunas that also evolved with strong levels of endemism. Its exact origins are unknown, but it arose long after a shift towards drier but still subhumid conditions that led to abrasive plants and the extinctions of the large-sized Lophiodontidae, achieving gigantism and establishing itself as a dominant herbivore throughout the entirety of the western European region given its abundant fossil evidence.
Its success was abruptly halted by the Grande Coupure extinction and faunal turnover event in the earliest Oligocene of western Europe, which was caused by shifts towards further glaciation and seasonality. Tropical and subtropical forests were rapidly replaced by more temperate environments, and most ocean barriers previously separating western Europe from eastern Eurasia closed, allowing for large faunal dispersals from Asia. Although the specific causes are uncertain, Anoplotherium was likely unable to adapt to these major changes and succumbed to extinction.
Anoplotherium is the type genus of the extinct Palaeogene artiodactyl family Anoplotheriidae, which was endemic to western Europe. It lived from the late...
naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1804. Although he designated the species to Anoplotherium, he recognized that it differed from A. commune by its dentition and...
based on his hypothesis of the taxon being a transitional form between "Anoplotherium" secundaria, previously erected by Georges Cuvier in 1822, and Dichobune...
The research history of Anoplotherium spans back to 1804 when Georges Cuvier first described the fossils of this extinct artiodactyl and named the genus...
weighted about 20 kg (44 lb), while Anoplotherium is suggested to have been up to 271 kg (597 lb) in weight. Anoplotherium is thought to have been a browser...
"more strictly marine than the crocodile of the Ganges [the gharial]." Anoplotherium commune is an extinct mammal species from the late Eocene to earliest...
other dacrytheriine Dacrytherium and unlike anoplotheriines such as Anoplotherium, Catodontherium had a preorbital fossa. It also had cranial and dental...
Cuvier's 1812 unpublished version of the skeletal reconstruction of Anoplotherium commune with muscles. Today, the Paleogene mammal is thought to have...
different layers of fossils, such as those containing Palaeotherium and Anoplotherium (pictured), by Georges Cuvier led him to believe that series of catastrophic...
Georges Cuvier's 1812 skeletal reconstruction of Anoplotherium commune based on fossil remains of the extinct artiodactyl from Montmartre in Paris, France...
established two ungulate genera from the Paris Basin named Palaeotherium and Anoplotherium based on fragmentary remains alone, although more complete remains were...
Anoplotherium was the first fossil artiodactyl genus to be named, with a history dating back to 1804. It lived in Europe as part of the endemic family...
in his studies that it had dentition similar to the anoplotheriids Anoplotherium and Diplobune but differed from them by a deep preorbital fossa, where...
palaeothere perissodactyl Palaeotherium and the anoplotheriid artiodactyl Anoplotherium, both of which were described earliest after the former two genera,...
"Palaeotherium" minor (= Plagiolophus minor), "Anoplotherium medium" (= Xiphodon gracilis), and, most famously, Anoplotherium commune. In A. commune, he was able...
"Palaeotherium" minor (= Plagiolophus minor), "Anoplotherium medium" (= Xiphodon gracilis), and, most famously, Anoplotherium commune based on known fossil remains...
names the perissodactyl Palaeotherium ("old beast") and the artiodactyl Anoplotherium ("unarmed beast"). Gini-Newman, Garfield; Graham, Elizabeth (2001)....
previously described by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1822 as Anoplotherium (Dichobune) obliquum, to Haplomeryx as H? obliquus. H? obliquus is known...
significant gap of anoplotheriines in MP17a-MP17b, the derived anoplotheriids Anoplotherium and Diplobune made their first appearances in western Europe by MP18...
has historically depended on fossil reconstructions, such as that of Anoplotherium commune by Georges Cuvier in 1812. For instance, its reconstruction...
The hypothesis has not been tested, but other anoplotheriines such as Anoplotherium and Diplobune are also suggested to have unusual adaptations as well...
concluded that it must have had affinities with anoplotheriids like Anoplotherium and Diplobune based on dentition and gave another binomial name Uphelognatos...
significant gap of anoplotheriines in MP17a-MP17b, the derived anoplotheriids Anoplotherium and Diplobune made their first appearances in western Europe by MP18...
Anoplotherium, an iconic genus of the Western European endemic fauna from the late Eocene to the early Oligocene. It died out by the Eocene-Oligocene...
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