Wakaleo oldfieldi

Wakaleo oldfieldi is an extinct species of marsupial lions of the genus Wakaleo, found in Miocene deposits of South Australia. It had three unfused molar teeth instead of two fused molars as is the case with the Pleistocene Thylacoleo carnifex.

Wakaleo oldfieldi
Temporal range:
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Thylacoleonidae
Genus: Wakaleo
Species:
W. oldfieldi
Binomial name
Wakaleo oldfieldi
Clemens & Plane, 1974[1]

As with Thylacoleo carnifex, this species is presumed to have used its maxillary (upper) teeth to hold its food and sharpen the mandibular teeth, the latter were also used in slicing and stabbing during eating. The premolars also had a crescent-shaped circumference for slicing.[2]

Taxonomy

A description of the species was published in 1974. It is a species of Wakaleo, marsupial carnivores also found at other fossil sites in Australia.[1]

References

  1. Clemens, W.A.; Plane, M. (1974). "Mid-Tertiary Thylacoleonidae (Marsupialia, Mammalia)". Journal of Paleontology. 48 (4): 653–660. ISSN 0022-3360.
  2. "Thylacoleonid Genera and Species - Tertiary Genera". www.naturalworlds.org. Retrieved 1 October 2022.


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