| Wakaleo vanderleuri Temporal range: Miocene |
|
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Diprotodontia |
| Family: | †Thylacoleonidae |
| Genus: | †Wakaleo |
| Species: | †W. vanderleuri |
| Binomial name | |
| †Wakaleo vanderleuri Clemens & Plane, 1974 |
|
Wakaleo vanderleuri is a species of "marsupial lion" that lived in Australia during the Miocene (approximately 16 to 10 million years ago). It is not closely related to true cats, as being a marsupial its closest living relatives are wombats and the Koala. This diprotodont is hypothesized to have been an omnivore, eating significant amounts of meat, perhaps more like a bear in diet and habit than like an actual lion. It lacked large canine-like fangs, producing some controversy regarding just how much it actually preyed on living animals. The meat-eating hypothesis is based largely upon the morphology of its molar teeth. The species is believed to have been able to hunt by leaping from trees onto its prey.[1]
The type species fossils were originally found in the Bollock Creek area.