Zaglossus robustus

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][3]

Zaglossus robustus
Temporal range: Miocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Monotremata
Family: Tachyglossidae
Genus: Zaglossus
Species:
Z. robustus
Binomial name
Zaglossus robustus
(Dun, 1895)
Synonyms
  • Ornithorhynchus maximus Dun, 1895
  • Zaglossus harrissoni Scott and Lord, 1922

References

  1. Musser, A. M. (2003). "Review of the monotreme fossil record and comparison of palaeontological and molecular data". Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology. 136 (4): 927–942. doi:10.1016/S1095-6433(03)00275-7.
  2. Hall, B. K. (1999). "The paradoxical platypus". BioScience. 49 (3): 211–218. doi:10.2307/1313511. JSTOR 1313511.
  3. Musser, A. M. (1999). "Diversity and relationships of living and extinct monotremes" (PDF). Australian Mammalogy. 21 (8–9).

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.
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