Is it possible to use JAXB to unmarshall xml to a specific Java class based on an attribute of the xml? <shapes> <shape type="square" points="4" square-specific-attribute="foo" /> <shape type="triangle" points="3" triangle-specific-attribute="bar" /> </shapes> I would like to have a List of Shape objects containing a triangle and a square, each with their own shape-specific attribute. IE: abstract class Shape { int points; //...etc } class Square extends Shape { String square-specific-attribute; //...etc } class Triangle extends Shape { String triangle-specific-attribute; //...etc } I'm currently just putting all attributes in one big "Shape" class and it's less than ideal. I could get this to work if the shapes were properly named xml elements, but unfortunately I don't have control of the xml I'm retrieving. Thanks!