Diprotodon a.k.a.‭ ‘‬Giant Wombat’ and ‘Rhinoceros Wombat’

Di-proe-toe-don.
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Maeve Foster

Paleoclimatologist

Maeve Foster explores the Earth's climatic past to understand the forces that shaped life on our planet. Her research into ancient climate events provides valuable context for current environmental challenges.

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Name

Diprotodon ‭(‬Two forward teeth‭)‬.

Phonetic

Di-proe-toe-don.

Named By

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Marsupialia,‭ ‬Diprotodontia,‭ ‬Vombatiformes,‭ ‬Diprotodontidae.

Diet

Herbivore.

Species

Size

Up to‭ ‬3‭ ‬meters long,‭ 1.8‭ ‬meters tall at the shoulder.‭ ‬Possibly slightly bigger.

Known locations

Australia.

Time Period

Calabrian to mid/late Tarantian of the Pleistocene.

Fossil representation

Remains of hundreds of individuals making this one of the best known megafauna animals from Australia.‭ ‬Footprints and hair impressions are also known.

In Depth

Further Reading

– Taxonomy and palaeobiology of the largest-ever marsupial, Diprotodon Owen, 1838 (Diprotodontidae, Marsupialia) – Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 153 (2): 369–397 – G. J. Price – 2006. – Late-surviving megafauna in Tasmania, Australia, implicate human involvement in their extinction – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America – Chris S. M. Turney, Timothy F. Flannery, Richard G. Robertsa, Craig Reide, L. Keith Fifieldf, Tom F. G. Higham, Zenobia Jacobs, Noel Kemp, Eric A. Colhouni, Robert M. Kalinj & Neil Ogle – 2008. – Taxonomy and palaeobiology of the largest-ever marsupial, Diprotodon Owen, 1838 (Diprotodontidae, Marsupialia). – Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 153 (2): 369–397. – G. J. Price – 2008. – Gigantism of the Australian Diprotodon Owen 1838 (Marsupialia, Diprotodontoidea) through the Pleistocene. – Journal of Quaternary Science. 24 (8): 1029–1038. – G. J. Price & K. J. Piper – 2009. – Climate change frames debate over the extinction of megafauna in Sahul (Pleistocene Australia-New Guinea). – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 110 (22): 8777–8781. – Stephen Wroe, Judith H. Field, Michael Archer, Donald K. Grayson, Gilbert J. Price, Julien Louys, J. Tyler Faith, Gregory E. Webb, Iain Davidson & Scott D. Mooneya – 2013. – Cranial biomechanics, bite force and function of the endocranial sinuses in Diprotodon optatum, the largest known marsupial. – Journal of Anatomy. 228 (6): 984–995. – Alana C. Sharp & Thomas H. Rich – 2016. – Seasonal migration of marsupial megafauna in Pleistocene Sahul (Australia–New Guinea). – Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 284 (1863): 20170785. – Gilbert J. Price, Kyle J. Ferguson, Gregory E. Webb, Yue-xing Feng, Pennilyn Higgins, Ai Duc Nguyen, Jian-xin Zhao, Renaud Joannes-Boyau & Julien Louys – 2017.

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT