#plesiorycteropus

[alphynix]

Island Weirdness #23 -- The Bibymalagasy

One of the most mysterious members of Madagascar’s pre-human ecosystem was a creature known as Plesiorycteropus, or the “bibymalagasy”.

It’s known only from fragmentary remains, including a few limb bones, vertebrae, partial skulls, and partial pelvises -- with two different species identified, the larger Plesiorycteropus madagascariensis and the smaller Plesiorycteropus germainepetterae. For a long time it was it was unclear what type of mammal it even was and the best guess seemed to be “some sort of small aardvark-relative” based on anatomical similarities, but various studies disagreed and some even considered it to represent a completely unique order of mammals.

In 2013 an analysis of preserved collagen from one bone finally gave a better answer -- Plesiorycteropus was most closely related to tenrecs, which arrived in Madagascar via ocean rafting during the mid-Cenozoic, and the skeletal resemblance to aardvarks was due to convergent evolution.

It was built for scratch-digging, using its strong forelimbs and claws to dig while bracing itself with its hindlimbs and long thick tail. Its snout had large nasal cavities, indicating a good sense of smell, and similarities to the skulls of armadillos suggest it had the same sort of diet of insects, grubs, worms, and other soft foods. It may also have fed on ants and termites.

Since it’s only known from fragments its full size is hard to determine, but rough estimates suggest Plesiorycteropus madagascariensis was “small dog-sized” -- possibly having a head-and-body length of 60-80cm (2′-2′7), and a total length of over 1m (3′3″).

Unlike some other extinct Malagasy animals there are no historical or folkloric accounts of anything resembling the bibymalagasy. One bone has been carbon dated to just over 2000 years ago, shortly after the arrival of human settlers, and it seems to have gone extinct very soon after that date.

[cutsliceddiced]

Wikipedia article of the day for February 24, 2019

The Wikipedia article of the day for February 24, 2019 is Plesiorycteropus. Plesiorycteropus was a mammal from Madagascar that became extinct sometime after 200 BCE, as evidenced by radiocarbon dating. Upon its description in 1895 by French naturalist Henri Filhol, Plesiorycteropus was classified with the aardvark, but more recent studies have found little evidence for that linkage. Molecular evidence instead suggests that it is related to the tenrecs, in the order Afrosoricida. Two species are recognized, the larger P. madagascariensis and the smaller P. germainepetterae; subfossil remains of both species have been found in the same site. Only limb and partial pelvis and skull bones have been recovered to date. Plesiorycteropus was probably a digging animal that fed on insects such as termites and ants. It also shows adaptations for climbing and sitting. Estimates of its mass range from 6 to 18 kilograms (13 to 40 lb). Forest destruction by humans may have contributed to its extinction. via https://cutslicedanddiced.wordpress.com/2018/01/24/how-to-prevent-food-from-going-to-waste

[pierre-j]

Plesiorycteropus was a mammal from Madagascar that became extinct sometime after 200 BCE, as evidenced by radiocarbon dating. Upon its description in 1895 by French naturalist Henri Filhol, Plesiorycteropus was classified with the aardvark, but more recent studies have found little evidence for that linkage. Molecular evidence instead suggests that it is related to the tenrecs, in the order Afrosoricida. Two species are recognized, the larger P. madagascariensis and the smaller P. germainepetterae; subfossil remains of both species have been found in the same site. Only limb and partial pelvis and skull bones have been recovered to date. Plesiorycteropus was probably a digging animal that fed on insects such as termites and ants. It also shows adaptations for climbing and sitting. Estimates of its mass range from 6 to 18 kilograms (13 to 40 lb). Forest destruction by humans may have contributed to its extinction.

[planetinformation]

The Wikipedia article of the day for February 24, 2019 is Plesiorycteropus. Plesiorycteropus was a mammal from Madagascar that became extinct sometime after 200 BCE, as evidenced by radiocarbon dating. Upon its description in 1895 by French naturalist Henri Filhol, Plesiorycteropus was classified with the aardvark, but more recent studies have found little evidence for that linkage. Molecular evidence instead suggests that it is related to the tenrecs, in the order Afrosoricida. Two species are recognized, the larger P. madagascariensis and the smaller P. germainepetterae; subfossil remains of both species have been found in the same site. Only limb and partial pelvis and skull bones have been recovered to date. Plesiorycteropus was probably a digging animal that fed on insects such as termites and ants. It also shows adaptations for climbing and sitting. Estimates of its mass range from 6 to 18 kilograms (13 to 40 lb). Forest destruction by humans may have contributed to its extinction.

[fadgasdgdsd]

Wikipedia article of the day is Plesiorycteropus. Check it out: https://ift.tt/2vHyTOJ

[rjbailey]

Wikipedia article of the day for February 24, 2019 -- Plesiorycteropus

The Wikipedia article of the day for February 24, 2019 is Plesiorycteropus. Plesiorycteropus was a mammal from Madagascar that became extinct sometime after 200 BCE, as evidenced by radiocarbon dating. Upon its description in 1895 by French naturalist Henri Filhol, Plesiorycteropus was classified with the aardvark, but more recent studies have found little evidence for that linkage. Molecular evidence instead suggests that it is related to the tenrecs, in the order Afrosoricida. Two species are recognized, the larger P. madagascariensis and the smaller P. germainepetterae; subfossil remains of both species have been found in the same site. Only limb and partial pelvis and skull bones have been recovered to date. Plesiorycteropus was probably a digging animal that fed on insects such as termites and ants. It also shows adaptations for climbing and sitting. Estimates of its mass range from 6 to 18 kilograms (13 to 40 lb). Forest destruction by humans may have contributed to its extinction.

[alphynix]

Holocene Extinction Month #02 -- Plesiorycteropus

Known only from fragmentary remains in Madagascar, Plesiorycteropus seems to have represented a unique lineage of mammals with no close living relatives. Although it was originally considered to be an aardvark -- and many reconstructions depict it as such -- more recent molecular studies have shown it to be more closely related to the tenrecs. (I've chosen here to reconstruct it as more "tenrec-like" than "aardvark-like" for that reason.)

Little is known about its lifestyle, but it was probably a digging animal which fed on insects such as ants. Although definitely larger than any extant tenrecs, exact size estimates for Plesiorycteropus are hard to come by -- the best I could find was "small dog-sized" and mass estimates of anywhere between 6 and 18kg (13-40lbs).

One Plesiorycteropus bone has been radiocarbon dated to 200 BCE, around the earliest arrival of humans on Madagascar. It may have survived up until about 1000 CE before its eventual extinction due to human-induced habitat loss. Many other native Malagasy species suffered similar fates, including the giant fossa, elephant birds, pygmy hippos, giant tortoises, and various giant lemurs.