Anagale

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Anagale
Temporal range: Early Oligocene
Anagale gobiensis NT.jpg
Restoration of A. gobiensis
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
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.

Contents

Description

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

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

  1. 1 2 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). doi:10.1111/pala.12650. ISSN   0031-0239 . Retrieved 10 July 2025 via Wiley Online Library.