Angrivarodon, new multituberculate from Lower Cretaceous of Germany + Eocene Eurotamandua as palaeanodont
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Ben Creisler
Apr 1, 2026, 1:34:22 PM (2 days ago) Apr 1
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Ben Creisler
Kenneth D. Rose, Renate Rabenstein, Jörg Habersetzer & Timothy J. Gaudin (2026)
Anatomy of Eurotamandua joresi (Mammalia) from Grube Messel, Germany, based on computed tomography, and implications for its relationships. Part I: Background and forelimb
Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments (advance online publication)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-025-00686-x
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12549-025-00686-x
Micro-computed tomography of the unique skeleton of Eurotamandua joresi Storch, 1981 (middle Eocene, Grube Messel)—initially described as the oldest myrmecophagid and the only known Old World xenarthran—reveals details of its skeletal anatomy that were previously obscured, enabling close comparative study for the first time. In this report we focus on the forelimb. The segmentation of scapula, humerus, radius, ulna, carpals, metacarpals and phalanges reveals exceptional specializations for scratch digging. These include numerous features that are strikingly similar to those of palaeanodonts, and to a lesser degree manids, but which contrast sharply with those of the xenarthrans Tamandua and Dasypus. Other features once thought to ally Eurotamandua with xenarthrans, such as a secondary scapular spine, absence of teeth, and a tubular snout, are not restricted to Xenarthra. The new forelimb characters are here incorporated into a phylogenetic analysis that includes xenarthrans, pholidotans, and palaeanodonts. This new analysis provides compelling evidence that Eurotamandua is related to Palaeanodonta (Laurasiatheria: Pholidotamorpha) rather than to Xenarthra, thus separating it from xenarthrans at the superordinal level. Consequently, there is no evidence that Xenarthra ever reached the Old World.
Recent mammal papers:
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Free pdf:
Angrivarodon goresi gen. et sp. nov.
Thomas Martin, Alexander O. Averianov, Andreas J. Lang, Julia A. Schultz & Achim H. Schwermann (2026)
A new paulchoffatiid and additional multituberculate (Mammalia) remains from the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian-Aptian) of Germany
PalZ (advance online publication)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-025-00765-6
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12542-025-00765-6
Screen washing operations at the Busche quarry near Balve in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) have yielded a new paulchoffatiid multituberculate and additional teeth of the eobaatarid Cheruscodon balvensis. Angrivarodon goresi gen. et sp. nov. is represented by an upper P5 and differs from all known multituberculates of the paulchoffatiid line by a cusp formula of 4B:6L. For C. balvensis 12 new teeth are reported, representing seven formerly unknown tooth positions (dPX, P2, P3, P4, M1, M2, and m1), that allow for the reconstruction of large parts of the upper and lower premolar-molar series. A single upper P4 is attributed to Eobaataridae indet. Three upper P5s are designated as Multituberculata indet., one of which formerly had been assigned to the pinheirodontid Bructerodon alatus. After revision, B. alatus is now restricted to the holotype specimen (M1). Two isolated indeterminate multituberculate incisors have spatulate crowns with complete enamel cover. A cladistic analysis including the new Cheruscodon teeth led to an almost complete resolution of Eobaataridae under inclusion of Arginbaatar into that group. Monophyly of the genus Sinobaatar is not supported by the new cladistic analysis. The shared presence of derived cusp morphology and arrangement of cusps on the upper M2s of the Late Jurassic Teutonodon langenbergensis from the Langenberg locality (Lower Saxony) and of C. balvensis suggest the presence of eobaatarid ancestors in the Jurassic of Central Europe.
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Angrivarodon goresi gen. et sp. nov.
Thomas Martin, Alexander O. Averianov, Andreas J. Lang, Julia A. Schultz & Achim H. Schwermann (2026)
A new paulchoffatiid and additional multituberculate (Mammalia) remains from the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian-Aptian) of Germany
PalZ (advance online publication)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-025-00765-6
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12542-025-00765-6
Screen washing operations at the Busche quarry near Balve in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) have yielded a new paulchoffatiid multituberculate and additional teeth of the eobaatarid Cheruscodon balvensis. Angrivarodon goresi gen. et sp. nov. is represented by an upper P5 and differs from all known multituberculates of the paulchoffatiid line by a cusp formula of 4B:6L. For C. balvensis 12 new teeth are reported, representing seven formerly unknown tooth positions (dPX, P2, P3, P4, M1, M2, and m1), that allow for the reconstruction of large parts of the upper and lower premolar-molar series. A single upper P4 is attributed to Eobaataridae indet. Three upper P5s are designated as Multituberculata indet., one of which formerly had been assigned to the pinheirodontid Bructerodon alatus. After revision, B. alatus is now restricted to the holotype specimen (M1). Two isolated indeterminate multituberculate incisors have spatulate crowns with complete enamel cover. A cladistic analysis including the new Cheruscodon teeth led to an almost complete resolution of Eobaataridae under inclusion of Arginbaatar into that group. Monophyly of the genus Sinobaatar is not supported by the new cladistic analysis. The shared presence of derived cusp morphology and arrangement of cusps on the upper M2s of the Late Jurassic Teutonodon langenbergensis from the Langenberg locality (Lower Saxony) and of C. balvensis suggest the presence of eobaatarid ancestors in the Jurassic of Central Europe.
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Also:
Free pdf:
Free pdf:
Kenneth D. Rose, Renate Rabenstein, Jörg Habersetzer & Timothy J. Gaudin (2026)
Anatomy of Eurotamandua joresi (Mammalia) from Grube Messel, Germany, based on computed tomography, and implications for its relationships. Part I: Background and forelimb
Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments (advance online publication)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-025-00686-x
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12549-025-00686-x
Micro-computed tomography of the unique skeleton of Eurotamandua joresi Storch, 1981 (middle Eocene, Grube Messel)—initially described as the oldest myrmecophagid and the only known Old World xenarthran—reveals details of its skeletal anatomy that were previously obscured, enabling close comparative study for the first time. In this report we focus on the forelimb. The segmentation of scapula, humerus, radius, ulna, carpals, metacarpals and phalanges reveals exceptional specializations for scratch digging. These include numerous features that are strikingly similar to those of palaeanodonts, and to a lesser degree manids, but which contrast sharply with those of the xenarthrans Tamandua and Dasypus. Other features once thought to ally Eurotamandua with xenarthrans, such as a secondary scapular spine, absence of teeth, and a tubular snout, are not restricted to Xenarthra. The new forelimb characters are here incorporated into a phylogenetic analysis that includes xenarthrans, pholidotans, and palaeanodonts. This new analysis provides compelling evidence that Eurotamandua is related to Palaeanodonta (Laurasiatheria: Pholidotamorpha) rather than to Xenarthra, thus separating it from xenarthrans at the superordinal level. Consequently, there is no evidence that Xenarthra ever reached the Old World.
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