Protemnodon

Protemnodon[1]
Temporal range: Pliocene-Pleistocene
Artist's conception, Protemnodon anak
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Macropodidae
Subfamily: Macropodinae
Genus: †Protemnodon
Owen, 1873
Paleospecies

†P. otibandus
†P. buloloensis
†P. hopei
†P. tumbuna
†P. nombe
†P. bandharr
†P. snewiki
†P. anak
†P. chinchillaensis
†P. brehus
†P. roechus

Protemnodon is a genus of megafaunal macropods that existed in Australia, Tasmania, and Papua New Guinea in the Pliocene and Pleistocene. Based on fossil evidence, Protemnodon is thought to have been physically similar to wallabies, but far larger; Protemnodon hopei was the smallest in the genus, weighing about 45 kg, the other species all weighing over 110 kg.[2] Recent analysis of mtDNA extracted from fossils indicates that Protemnodon was closely related to Macropus.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Haaramo, M. (20 December 2004). "Mikko's Phylogeny Archive: Macropodidae - kenguroos". Archived from the original on 31 March 2007. Retrieved 15 March 2007.
  2. ↑ Helgen, K.M., Wells, R.T., Kear, B.P., Gerdtz, W.R., and Flannery, T.F. (2006). "Ecological and evolutionary significance of sizes of giant extinct kangaroos". Australian Journal of Zoology. 54 (4): 293–303. doi:10.1071/ZO05077.
  3. ↑ Llamas, B.; Brotherton, P.; Mitchell, K. J.; Templeton, J. E. L.; Thomson, V. A.; Metcalf, J. L.; Armstrong, K. N.; Kasper, M.; Richards, S. M.; Camens, A. B.; Lee, M. S. Y.; Cooper, A. (2014-12-18). "Late Pleistocene Australian marsupial DNA clarifies the affinities of extinct megafaunal kangaroos and wallabies". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 32: 574–584. doi:10.1093/molbev/msu338. PMID 25526902.


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