Astrapotheres: now derived from water opossums in the LRT
Astrapotheres have bounced around the LRT.
Today they nest (for now) with Eocene Kopidodon (Figs 1, 2), a meter long (including the tail) Messel taxon derived from the extant water opossum, Chironectes (Fig 1) in the large reptile tree (LRT, 2325 taxa).
Figure 1. Astrapotherium and other astrapotheres now nest with water opossums, like Kopidodon and Chironectes.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/astrapotherium588.jpg?w=155″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/astrapotherium588.jpg?w=529″ class=”size-full wp-image-89645″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/astrapotherium588.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Astrapotherium and other astrapotheres now nest with water opossums, like Kopidodon and Chironectes. ” width=”584″ height=”1131″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/astrapotherium588.jpg?w=584&h=1131 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/astrapotherium588.jpg?w=77&h=150 77w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/astrapotherium588.jpg?w=155&h=300 155w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/astrapotherium588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 1. Astrapotherium and other astrapotheres now nest with water opossums, like Kopidodon and Chironectes. Trigonostylops is similar in size to Kopidodon.
According to Wikipedia – Astrapotheria
“Astrapotheria is an extinct order of South American and Antarctic hoofed mammals that existed from the late Paleocene to the Middle Miocene, 59 to 11.8 million years ago. Astrapotheres were large, rhinoceros-like animals and have been called one of the most bizarre orders of mammals with an enigmatic evolutionary history. The taxonomy of this order is not clear.”
“There is no scientific consensus regarding the classification within Astrapotheria.”
The retracted naris of Astrapotheres,
likely sported a flexible trunk. Take a close look at Kopidodon where the nares had just started to retract. Astrapotheres are considered aquatic waders.
By contrast, Kopidodon is considered to be a meter-long but otherwise squirrel-like tree climber, with its long bushy tail. That niche hypothesis should be revised considering its phylogeentic bracketing between a water opossum and a clade of water waders.
Note the tiny ‘claws’ of the hind feet. The fore-claws are larger, but not large enough to support a meter-long herbivore on tree branches.
Figure 1. One of five complete skeletons of Kopiodon known from the middle Eocene Messel pits. A hand, foot and pelvis are layered to extend the fingers and toes for scoring.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/kopidodon_macrognathus_insitu588.jpg?w=179″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/kopidodon_macrognathus_insitu588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-44290″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/kopidodon_macrognathus_insitu588.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. One of five complete skeletons of Kopiodon known from the middle Eocene Messel pits. A hand, foot and pelvis are layered to extend the fingers and toes for scoring.” width=”584″ height=”981″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/kopidodon_macrognathus_insitu588.jpg?w=584&h=981 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/kopidodon_macrognathus_insitu588.jpg?w=89&h=150 89w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/kopidodon_macrognathus_insitu588.jpg?w=179&h=300 179w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/kopidodon_macrognathus_insitu588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 2. One of five complete skeletons of Kopiodon known from the middle Eocene Messel pits. A hand, foot and pelvis are layered to extend the fingers and toes for scoring.
The great geographic distance
between European Kopidodon and South American astrapotheres should be considered a hurdle needing further study. These are both primitive marsupials in the LRT.
This appears to be a novel hypothesis of interrelationships.
If not, please provide a citation so I can promote it here.
References
wiki/Astrapotheria
wiki/Kopidodon
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2024/11/11/astrapotheres-now-derived-from-water-opossums-in-the-lrt/
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