Thylacoleo a.k.a. ‬Marsupial Lion‭.

Fy-lak-o-lee-oh.
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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

Thylacoleo ‭(‬Pouch lion‭)‬.

Phonetic

Fy-lak-o-lee-oh.

Named By

Richard Owen‭ ‬-‭ ‬1859.‭

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Marsupialia,‭ ‬Diprotodontia,‭ ‬Thylacoleonidae.

Diet

Carnivore.

Species

Size

Largest species (T. carnifex) up to 75 centimetres high at the shoulder. Smallest species (T. hilli) roughly half this size..‭ ‬Average weight was between‭ ‬100‭ ‬and‭ ‬130‭ ‬kilograms,‭ ‬but larger individuals could approach‭ ‬160‭ ‬kilograms.

Known locations

Australia.

Time Period

Zanclean of the Pliocene through to Ionian of the Pleistocene.‭ *‬note‭ ‬-‭ ‬different species appear at different times of the fossil record.

Fossil representation

Many specimens,‭ ‬some of which are almost complete allowing for accurate reconstruction.

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 fossil mammals of Australia. Part IV. Dentition and mandible of Thylacoleo carnifex, with remarks on arguments for its herbivory. – Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 161, 213-266. – Richard Owen – 1871. – The skull of Thylacoleo carnifex. – Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 13, 125-140. – J. T. Woods – 1956. – A new species of Thylacoleo (Marsupialia, Thylacoleonidae), with notes on the occurrence and distribution of Thylacoleonidae in South Australia. – Records of the South Australian Museum 17, 277-283. – N. Pledge – 1977. – On the manus and pes of Thylacoleo carnifex Owen (Marsupialia). – Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 101,139-146. – R. T. Wells & B. Nichol – 1977. – Thylacoleo carnifex Owen (Thylacoleonidae): marsupial carnivore? pp. 573-585 in Archer, M. (ed) Carnivorous Marsupials, Vol. 2. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Mosman – R. Wells, D. R. Horton & P. Rogers – 1982. – The discovery and interpretation of Thylacoleo carnifex (Thylacoleonidae, Marsupialia). pp. 537-551 in Archer, M. (ed) Carnivorous Marsupials, Vol. 2. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Mosman. – M. E. Finch – 1982. – An odontometric study of the species of Thylacoleo (Thylacoleonidae, Marsupialia). pp. 553-572 in Archer, M. (ed) Carnivorous Marsupials, Vol. 2. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Mosman. – M. E. Finch & L. Freedman – 1982. – Estimating the weight of the Pleistocene marsupial lion, Thylacoleo carnifex (Thylacoleonidae : Marsupialia): implications for the ecomorphology of a marsupial super-predator and hypotheses of impoverishment of Australian marsupial carnivore faunas – Australian Journal of Zoology 47 (5): 489–498. – S. Wroe, T. J. Myers, R. T. Wells & A. Gillespie – 1999. – An alternative method for predicting body mass: the case of the Pleistocene marsupial lion. – Paleobiology 29, 404-412. – S. Wroe, T. J. Myers, F. Seebacher, B. Kear, A. Gillespie, M. Crowther & S. Salisbury – 2003. – Pedal morphology of the marsupial lion Thylacoleo carnifex (Diprotodontia: Thylacoleonidae) from the Pleistocene of Australia. – Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 29:4, 1335-1340. – Roderick T. Wells, Peter F. Murray & Steven J. Bourne – 2009. -An ancient rock painting of a marsupial lion, Thylacoleo carnifex, from the Kimberley, Western Australia. – Antiquity Volume 083 Issue 319 – Kim Akerman & Tim Willing – 2009. – Behaviour of the Pleistocene marsupial lion deduced from claw marks in a southwestern Australian cave. – Scientific Reports. 6: 21372. – Samuel D. Arman & Gavin J. Prideaux – 2016. – New skeletal material sheds light on the palaeobiology of the Pleistocene marsupial carnivore, Thylacoleo carnifex. – PLOS ONE. 13 (12): e0208020. – A. R. Evans, R. T. Wells & A. B. Camens – 2018.

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT