Protemnodon
| Protemnodon[1] Temporal range: 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 | |
Protemnodon is a genus of megafaunal macropods that existed in Australia, Tasmania and Papua New Guinea in the Pleistocene. Based on fossil evidence it is thought that Protemnodon was physically similar to wallabies but far larger; Protemnodon hopei was the smallest in the genus weighing about 45 kilograms, the other species all weighed over 110 kg.[2] Recent analysis of mtDNA extracted from fossils indicates that Protemnodon was closely related to Macropus.[3]
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Protemnodon. |
- ↑ Haaramo, M. (20 December 2004). "Mikko's Phylogeny Archive: Macropodidae - kenguroos". Retrieved 15 March 2007.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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. doi:10.1093/molbev/msu338.