Talk:Anthracotheriidae

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Babyrousa babyrussa, someone suggest that Babyroussas are anthracotheriidae.Anselmocisneros 14:03, 26 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Last I've checked, experts believe that the babirusa is a member of Suidae. Do you have any sources for this suggestion? Also, anatomically speaking, anthracotheres are more related to hippopotami than pigs.--Mr Fink 15:42, 26 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Some paleontologists have indeed suggested that the babirusa is a modern survivor of the Anthracotheriidae, but apparently no one holds that view today.^[1] Cheers,Cephal-odd (talk) 06:32, 19 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

References

Many of the articles relating to the subjects of hippopotamus and whale evolution mention recent research which apparently indicates that the two groups are closely related. I am not an evolutionary biologist, but noticing this article's claim that, to the contrary, anthracotheres (and by implication hippopotamids) are more closely related to pigs, I added a "citation needed" tag. Anaxial provided a citation with impressive speed, but the source for the citation is over a decade old and in turn cites other sources a decade older than that; these sources, then, presumably predate the "recent research" mentioned by other articles. I think perhaps the view of an expert, or at least someone more knowledgeable in these matters than I am, might be useful in deciding how to present the relevant information on this and other articles. Robin S (talk) 21:15, 2 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, you're correct that the sources I used predate the linking of the hippopotamuses with the whales. Obviously, we don't have DNA evidence to confirm the exact relationship between the Anthracotheres and these other groups. Ultimate Ungulate, citing recent studies, places the hippos as more closely related to the whales than to the pigs, but, of course, it doesn't mention the Anthracotheres. One of the studies cited in the existing references places the Anthracotheres as belonging to the hippo-like group, rather than the Suiformes, so you may well be right that the claim "related to the pigs", while technically true (since many things are "related" to pigs), is misleading. I'd have no objection to it being re-phrased, in light of the more recent discoveries. Anaxial (talk) 22:47, 2 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The article currently says:

Recent evidence gained from comparative gene sequencing further suggests that anthracotheres, as relatives of hippos,[7] may be close to the ancestry of the whales.[8][9]

While technically correct, the wording is too easy to misunderstand as saying that gene sequencing directly supports a relationship between anthracotheres and hippos, or anthracotheres and whales. In fact, the first reference uses anatomical evidence to conclude relationship between anthracotheres and hippos, while the latter two references use genetic evidence to conclude that extant hippos are related to whales. As far as I know, no genetic material has been recovered from the long-extinct anthracotheres. I'll re-word this sentence. Cephal-odd (talk) 05:36, 19 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

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