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Anagale

Anagale
Temporal range: Early Oligocene
Restoration of A. gobiensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: †Anagaloidea
Family: †Anagalidae
Genus: †Anagale
Simpson, 1931
Species:
†A. gobiensis
Binomial name
†Anagale gobiensis
Simpson, 1931

Anagale is an extinct genus of mammal from the Early Oligocene of Mongolia. Its closest living relatives are the rodents and lagomorphs.

Description

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Anagale was 30 cm (1 ft) long and resembled a rabbit, but with a longer tail.[1] Anagale gobiensis had the lowest neocortical ratio ever recorded in a euarchontogliran. Along with its small neocortex, it also possessed small petrosal lobules; both of these traits are typically associated with fossorial mammals. Its laterally expansive palaeocortex and relatively large olfactory bulbs suggest that olfaction was its primary sense.[2]

Palaeobiology

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The build of the hind legs of Anagale indicates that it walked, and did not hop. Judging from its shovel-shaped claws, Anagale burrowed for food, such as subterranean beetles and worms. Anagale fossils have strongly worn teeth from eating soil, further indicating it ate subterranean invertebrates.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 210. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
  2. ^ López-Torres, Sergi; Bertrand, Ornella C.; Lang, Madlen M.; Fostowicz-Frelik, Łucja; Silcox, Mary T.; Meng, Jin (1 June 2023). Hautier, Lionel (ed.). "Cranial endocast of Anagale gobiensis (Anagalidae) and its implications for early brain evolution in Euarchontoglires". Palaeontology. 66 (3) e12650. Bibcode:2023Palgy..6612650L. doi:10.1111/pala.12650. ISSN 0031-0239. Retrieved 10 July 2025 – via Wiley Online Library.


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