Dorcopsoides
| Dorcopsoides | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Diprotodontia |
| Family: | Macropodidae |
| Genus: | †Dorcopsoides Woodburne, 1967 |
| Species: | †D. fossilis
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Dorcopsoides fossilis Woodburne, 1967
| |
Dorcopsoides is a genus of extinct species of kangaroo from the Pliocene of Australia.[1]
Description
[edit]Dorcopsoides was described in 1967 from the well-preserved lower jaw, skull fragments and occipital found in the Upper Miocene Alcoota Fossil Beds north-east of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. It was part of the Alcoota local fauna, which also included zygomaturine diprotodonts, a type of mihirung (Ilbandornis), a crocodile (Baru) and the giant thylacine, Thylacinus potens.[2]
It was about the size of a gray and black four-eyed opossum. The generic name (Dorcopsoides) indicates a resemblance to forest wallabies (Dorcopsis) now living in New Guinea and neighboring islands.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ "Dorcopsoides". Paleobiology Database..
- ^ Alcoota Fossil Beds – Government of the Northern Territory
- ^ Long, John A. & Archer, Michael (2002). Prehistoric mammals of Australia and New Guinea: one hundred million years of evolution. UNSW Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-0801872235.
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