In Depth Lekaneleo is a genus of thylacoleonid marsupial that lived in Australia during the Miocene period. Lekaneleo is a relative of the better known Thylacoleo, and like Thylacoleo, Lekaneleo would have been a powerful predator. Further Reading - Priscileo roskellyae sp. nov. (Thylacoleonidae, Marsupialia) from the Oligocene-Miocene of Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland. - Memoirs of … Read more
In Depth Didelphodon acquired its name because of its similar dentition to a modern day opossum, which in turn has indicated a matching diet of insects and small animals. Its body morphology also suggests adaptation for burrowing, a good survival tactic when you consider the predatory dinosaurs of its time. As an ancient marsupial, Didelphodon … Read more
In Depth Protemnodon was in essence very much like a wallaby, though much larger in physical size. Protemnodon fossils are also known from Papua New Guinea making this genus one of the most geographically wide ranging genera of wallaby. Further Reading - Ecological and evolutionary significance of sizes of giant extinct kangaroos - Australian Journal … Read more
In Depth Galadi is a genus of bandicoot that lived in Australia during the Miocene. Further Reading Further reading - An exceptionally well-preserved short-snouted bandicoot (Marsupialia; Peramelemorphia) from Riversleigh’s Oligo-Miocene deposits, northwestern Queensland, Australia. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(5):1528-1546. - K. J. Travouillion, Y. Gurovich, R. M. D. Beck & J. Muirhead - 2010. … Read more
In Depth Further Reading – On the fossil mammals of Australia. Part II. Description of a mutilated skull of the large marsupial carnivore (Thylacoleo carnifex Owen), from a calcareous conglomerate stratum, eighty miles S. W. of Melbourne, Victoria. – Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 149, 309-322. – Richard Owen – 1859. – On the … Read more
In Depth Neohelos is a genus of diprotodont marsupial similar to other genera such as Diprotodon and Zygomaturus. However, Neohelos is not currently known from such good fossil remains as other genera, hence why it is not as commonly known as them. Further Reading - Revision in the diprotodontid marsupial genus Neohelos: Systematics and biostratigraphy. … Read more
In Depth Priscakoala is a genus of koala that lived in Australia during the early Miocene. Further Reading – New Tertiary koala (Marsupialia, Phascolarctidae) from Riversleigh, Australia, with a revision of phascolarctid phylogenetics, paleoecology, and paleobiodiversity. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32(1):125-138 - K. H. Black, M. Archer & S.J. Hand - 2012.
In Depth Cookeroo is a genus of kangaroo that lived in Australia during the Miocene. Further Reading - Cookeroo, a new genus of fossil kangaroo (Marsupialia, Macropodidae) from the Oligo-Miocene of Riversleigh, Northwestern Queensland, Australia. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 36(3):e1083029 - K. Butler, K. J. Travouillon, G. J. Price, M. Archer & S. J. … Read more
In Depth Invictokoala is a genus of koala that lived in Australia, for most of the latter half of the Pleistocene. Further Reading - Invictokoala monticola gen. et sp. nov. (Phascolarctidae, Marsupialia), a Pleistocene plesiomorphic koala holdover from Oligocene ancestors. - Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 9(2):327-335. - G. J. Price & S. A. Hocknull - … Read more
In Depth Phascolonus was a genus of giant wombat that lived in Australia during the Pleistocene period. Fossils of this genus have been found at one of the most well-known areas for Pleistocene animals in Australia, Lake Callabonna. Lake Callabonna is especially well known for the remains of the huge Diprotodon, another large wombat that … Read more