Metamynodon (rhino-like hippo): transitional from oreodonts to hippos
A few days ago
we looked at Metamynodon (Fig 1), a traditional hippo-like rhino. However, when tested in the large reptile tree (LRT, 2338 taxa) Metamynodon nested at the base of the hippos, far from the rhinos, despite the rhino-like location of its orbits, far from the typical posterior and elevated position found in Hippopotamus and kin.
Figure 1. Metamynodon compared to scale with Merycoidodon, an oreodont from North America.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/metamynodon_588-1.jpg?w=133″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/metamynodon_588-1.jpg?w=453″ class=”size-full wp-image-94631″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/metamynodon_588-1.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Metamynodon compared to scale with Merycoidodon, an oreodont from North America. ” width=”584″ height=”1320″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/metamynodon_588-1.jpg?w=584&h=1320 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/metamynodon_588-1.jpg?w=66&h=150 66w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/metamynodon_588-1.jpg?w=133&h=300 133w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/metamynodon_588-1.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 1. Metamynodon compared to scale with Merycoidodon, an oreodont from North America. Note that overlapping squamosal lateral to the jugal along with those honing canines.
Unfortunately
I did not report the outgroup for the hippopotamus + Metamynodon (Scott and Osborn 1887) clade, was Merycoidodon (Fig 1), a mid-size oreodont from the same Early Oligocene beds on the plains of North America where Metamynodon was found.
Note the placement of the orbits in Merycoidodon is similar to Metamynodon.
Figure 1. Merycoidodon.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/merycoidodon_recon588.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/merycoidodon_recon588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-60815″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/merycoidodon_recon588.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Merycoidodon.” width=”584″ height=”330″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/merycoidodon_recon588.jpg?w=584&h=330 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/merycoidodon_recon588.jpg?w=150&h=85 150w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/merycoidodon_recon588.jpg?w=300&h=169 300w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/merycoidodon_recon588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 2. Merycoidodon skeleton. Compare to the larger skeleton of Metamynodon in figure 1. This is an old illsutration. Tiny Ocepeia is not related to Merycoidodon in the LRT.
According to Wikipedia – Metamynodon,
“The Early Oligocene Badlands National Park were probably streams coursing through grasslands, gallery woodlands, and savannas. Metamynodon was probably abundant and restricted to the streams; common in the gallery woodlands were the horse Mesohippus and artiodactyl Merycoidodon.”
In this light
Metamynodon is a giant oreodont. So are hippos. So are desmostylians. So are mysticetes.
Camels, horses and hippos all had their start in North America, but were gone from there by the Ice Age – only to return millennia later on boats with the help of humans.
References
Scott WB and Osborn HF 1887. Preliminary account of the fossil mammals from the White River formation contained in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Bull Mus Comparative Zoology. 1887;13: 151–171.
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2025/09/23/metamynodon-rhino-like-hippo-transitional-from-oreodonts-to-hippos/
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Whistler Blowers, Insiders
Dear CIA:
Congratulation on one of your finest pieces of fiction ever.
Stupid gullible Americans seem to be buying your bullcrap propaganda about Kirk being some kind of “hero”, when we know for a fact, he was just a treasonous low-life sell-out that took MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS of Israel Bribe-Dollars, and then suddenly decided to turn on his JEEEWWW masters. (For reasons still being kept secret)
Although the Alt. News tries to portray Kirk’s turn-around as an act of conscience, we know that’s pure excrement as well.
Amazing how stupid Americans are,… “WW2 – Pearl Harbor**”, Gulf Of Tonkin Incident”, “USS Liberty”, “Moon Landing”, “Watergate”, “Oklahoma City”, “9/11″ (just name a few of the bigger ones), and now “Charlie Kirk”…. Stupid gullible people are lapping it up like a dog licking up it’s own vomit,… amazing,… just amazing how dumb some people are.
**NOTE: Yes,.. I know CIA was just “OSS” back then and only had a minor role in the staging of Pearl Harbor (Wild Bill Did Have A Little Part In It), just as Tonkin was mostly a DOD Op, and the Liberty was a joint CIA/Mossad Op where you actually sacrificed your own men and assets,… WOW!
Bravo CIA,…. You guys really outdid yourselves on this one!
JD – US Marine: Although Netanyahu Ordered The Kirk Hit,… It Appears The CIA Was Given All Operation Aspects, Including The “Wet-Op”, Cover Story, Funeral Event, And All Related Propaganda Duties.