Wakaleo
| Wakaleo Temporal range: Miocene | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Diprotodontia |
| Family: | †Thylacoleonidae |
| Genus: | †Wakaleo Clemens & Plane, 1974 |
| Species | |
Wakaleo (indigenous Australian waka, "little", "small", and Latin leo, "lion"), was a genus of medium-sized thylacoleonids that lived in Australia in the early to late Miocene. It was approximately 2.5 ft (80 cm) long, or the size of a dog. Although much smaller than its close relative, the marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex), Wakaleo would have been a successful hunter in its time. It had teeth specially designed for cutting and stabbing. The ocelot-sized predator Wakaleo, along with its jaguar-sized relative Thylacoleo, were actually related to the herbivore wombats.[1]
Species
- Wakaleo alcootaensis was found in the Miocene Waite Formation in the Northern Territory in 1974. It was slightly larger than the other two species.
- Wakaleo oldfieldi was found by a group of scientists working in the Miocene Wipijiri Formation in southern Australia in 1971. They found a nearly complete left dentry which included a few well-preserved teeth.
- Wakaleo vanderleuri was first found by some field workers in 1967 in the Miocene Camfield Beds in the Northern Territory. Many more specimens have been found since then.
References
- ↑ The Book of Life. Stephen Jay Gould, John Barber, Peter Andrews. Norton, W.W.& Company Inc. 2001. ISBN 0-393-32156-8
- {http: www.naturalworlds.org/thylacoleo/species/GS_tertiary.htm Tertiary Genera of Thylacoleonidae]
- Australia's Lost Kingdoms
- Mikko's Phylogeny Archive