Wakaleo vanderleuri
| 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 (about 16 to 10 million years ago). Being a marsupial, it is not closely related to true cats; 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 Bullock Creek (Northern Territory) area. It has been found in limestone deposits in Riversleigh.
The first fossil, a right dentary fragment, was found in 1967 by a group of field workers at Bullock Creek in the Northern Territory. Since then more fossils have been recovered, including a well-preserved near-complete cranium with the mandible intact.
References
- ↑ Ellis, Richard (2004). No Turning Back: The Life and Death of Animal Species. New York: Harper Perennial. p. 101. ISBN 0-06-055804-0.