diff --git a/include/educelab/core/io/MeshIO_PLY.hpp b/include/educelab/core/io/MeshIO_PLY.hpp
index 6f15e5e..e2228f2 100644
--- a/include/educelab/core/io/MeshIO_PLY.hpp
+++ b/include/educelab/core/io/MeshIO_PLY.hpp
@@ -142,17 +142,26 @@ enum class PLYType {
     UChar,   ///< Unsigned 8-bit integer
 };
 
-/** @brief Parse a PLY type token into a @c PLYType enum value */
+/** @brief Parse a PLY type token into a @c PLYType enum value
+ *
+ * Accepts two spellings for each type. The eight names in Greg Turk's original
+ * PLY description (`char`, `uchar`, ... `float`, `double`) are the only ones
+ * the format defines, and they are what write_ply emits. The sized aliases
+ * (`int8`, `uint8`, ... `float32`, `float64`) are not in that description, but
+ * they are in wide circulation: vcglib (and therefore MeshLab) has parsed both
+ * sets for two decades, and OpenMVS writes the sized ones. Rejecting them
+ * means being unable to read files we have to read.
+ */
 inline auto parse_ply_type(std::string_view t) -> PLYType
 {
-    if (t == "float")  return PLYType::Float;
-    if (t == "double") return PLYType::Double;
-    if (t == "int")    return PLYType::Int;
-    if (t == "uint")   return PLYType::UInt;
-    if (t == "short")  return PLYType::Short;
-    if (t == "ushort") return PLYType::UShort;
-    if (t == "char")   return PLYType::Char;
-    if (t == "uchar")  return PLYType::UChar;
+    if (t == "float" or t == "float32")  return PLYType::Float;
+    if (t == "double" or t == "float64") return PLYType::Double;
+    if (t == "int" or t == "int32")      return PLYType::Int;
+    if (t == "uint" or t == "uint32")    return PLYType::UInt;
+    if (t == "short" or t == "int16")    return PLYType::Short;
+    if (t == "ushort" or t == "uint16")  return PLYType::UShort;
+    if (t == "char" or t == "int8")      return PLYType::Char;
+    if (t == "uchar" or t == "uint8")    return PLYType::UChar;
     throw std::runtime_error(
         "read_ply: unrecognized property type '" + std::string(t) + "'");
 }
diff --git a/tests/src/TestMeshIO.cpp b/tests/src/TestMeshIO.cpp
index edf61ad..1994eaa 100644
--- a/tests/src/TestMeshIO.cpp
+++ b/tests/src/TestMeshIO.cpp
@@ -1346,6 +1346,89 @@ TEST_F(PLYTest, BinaryLittleEndian_Read)
     EXPECT_EQ(dst.face(0), (Mesh3f::Face{0, 1, 2}));
 }
 
+TEST_F(PLYTest, SizedTypeAliases_ASCII_Read)
+{
+    // Many third-party writers spell property types with the sized aliases
+    // (float32, uint8, ...) rather than the names in the original PLY spec.
+    // These files are never produced by write_ply, so only a hand-crafted
+    // header exercises the alias path.
+    const auto path = ply("sized_ascii");
+    {
+        std::ofstream f(path);
+        f << "ply\n"
+          << "format ascii 1.0\n"
+          << "element vertex 3\n"
+          << "property float32 x\n"
+          << "property float32 y\n"
+          << "property float32 z\n"
+          << "property float64 nx\n"
+          << "property float64 ny\n"
+          << "property float64 nz\n"
+          << "property uint8 red\n"
+          << "property uint8 green\n"
+          << "property uint8 blue\n"
+          << "element face 1\n"
+          << "property list uint8 uint32 vertex_indices\n"
+          << "end_header\n"
+          << "0 0 0 0 0 1 255 0 0\n"
+          << "1 0 0 0 0 1 0 255 0\n"
+          << "0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 255\n"
+          << "3 0 1 2\n";
+    }
+
+    NCMesh dst;
+    read_ply(path, dst);
+
+    ASSERT_EQ(dst.num_vertices(), 3u);
+    ASSERT_EQ(dst.num_faces(), 1u);
+    EXPECT_NEAR(dst.vertex(1)[0], 1.f, 1e-5f);
+    EXPECT_NEAR(dst.vertex(2)[1], 1.f, 1e-5f);
+    ASSERT_TRUE(dst.vertex(0).normal.has_value());
+    EXPECT_NEAR((*dst.vertex(0).normal)[2], 1.f, 1e-5f);
+    ASSERT_TRUE(dst.vertex(0).color.has_value());
+    EXPECT_EQ(dst.vertex(0).color.value<Color::U8C3>()[0], 255u);
+    EXPECT_EQ(dst.vertex(1).color.value<Color::U8C3>()[1], 255u);
+    EXPECT_EQ(dst.vertex(2).color.value<Color::U8C3>()[2], 255u);
+    EXPECT_EQ(dst.face(0), (NCMesh::Face{0, 1, 2}));
+}
+
+TEST_F(PLYTest, SizedTypeAliases_BinaryLittleEndian_Read)
+{
+    // Header shape emitted by OpenMVS. The alias names must also resolve to
+    // the correct byte widths, or the binary reader desynchronizes.
+    const auto path = ply("sized_binary");
+    {
+        std::ofstream f(path, std::ios::binary);
+        f << "ply\n"
+          << "format binary_little_endian 1.0\n"
+          << "element vertex 3\n"
+          << "property float32 x\n"
+          << "property float32 y\n"
+          << "property float32 z\n"
+          << "element face 1\n"
+          << "property list uint8 uint32 vertex_indices\n"
+          << "end_header\n";
+        const float verts[9] = {
+            0.f, 0.f, 0.f,
+            1.f, 0.f, 0.f,
+            0.f, 1.f, 0.f};
+        f.write(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(verts), sizeof(verts));
+        const uint8_t  cnt = 3;
+        const uint32_t idx[3] = {0, 1, 2};
+        f.write(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(&cnt), 1);
+        f.write(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(idx), sizeof(idx));
+    }
+
+    Mesh3f dst;
+    read_ply(path, dst);
+
+    ASSERT_EQ(dst.num_vertices(), 3u);
+    ASSERT_EQ(dst.num_faces(), 1u);
+    EXPECT_NEAR(dst.vertex(1)[0], 1.f, 1e-5f);
+    EXPECT_NEAR(dst.vertex(2)[1], 1.f, 1e-5f);
+    EXPECT_EQ(dst.face(0), (Mesh3f::Face{0, 1, 2}));
+}
+
 TEST_F(PLYTest, WriteWithUVMap_PerWedgeTexcoord)
 {
     // Two triangles sharing an edge with a UV seam.