Zaglossus robustus
| Zaglossus robustus Temporal range: Miocene | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Monotremata |
| Family: | Tachyglossidae |
| Genus: | Zaglossus |
| Species: | †Z. robustus |
| Binomial name | |
| Zaglossus robustus (Dun, 1895) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Zaglossus robustus is an extinct species of long-beaked echidna known from the middle Miocene (about 13 or 14 million years ago) of Gulgong, New South Wales, Australia.[1] It may belong in the genus Megalibgwilia. The supposed fossil platypus Ornithorhynchus maximus was based on a humerus of this species.[2]
References
Literature cited
- Hall, B.K. 1999. The paradoxical platypus (subscription required). BioScience 49(3):211–218.
- Musser, A.M. 1999. Diversity and relationships of living and extinct monotremes. Australian Mammalogy 21:8–9.
- Musser, A.M. 2003. Review of the monotreme fossil record and comparison of palaeontological and molecular data (subscription required). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A 136:927–942.
Further reading
- Australia's Lost World: Prehistoric Animals of Riversleigh by Michael Archer, Suzanne J. Hand, and Henk Godthelp (page 162)
- Augee, M. L.; Gooden, B.; Musser, A. (January 2006). Echidna: Extraordinary Egg-laying Mammal. Csiro Publishing. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-643-09204-4. OCLC 65199910.