Mukupirna

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Wikipedia

Mukupirna
Temporal range: Late Oligocene
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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Infraorder: Vombatomorphia
Superfamily: Vombatoidea
Family: †Mukupirnidae
Beck et al., 2020
Genus: †Mukupirna
Beck et al., 2020
Type species
Mukupirna nambensis
Beck et al., 2020
Other species
  • †M. fortidentata Crichton et al., 2023

Mukupirna is an extinct genus of marsupials whose fossils have been recovered in Australia and dated to around 25 million years ago during the Oligocene Epoch. It was wombat-like with the main difference being that it was rather huge compared to modern wombats with estimates placing it between 141 and 173 kilograms (311 and 381 lb) in body mass, comparable in size to a male Asiatic black bear. It was probably a great digger and had developed teeth that would have allowed it to feed on sedges, roots and tubers. Mukupirna nambensis had a mix of characteristics between wombats and an extinct group of marsupials called wynyardiids. M. nambensis was coined by Beck et al. (2020) and M. fortidentatus was coined by Crichton et al. (2023).[1][2]

References

  1. ↑ Robin M. D. Beck; Julien Louys; Philippa Brewer; Michael Archer; Karen H. Black; Richard H. Tedford (2020). "A new family of diprotodontian marsupials from the latest Oligocene of Australia and the evolution of wombats, koalas, and their relatives (Vombatiformes)". Scientific Reports. 10 (1) 9741. Bibcode:2020NatSR..10.9741B. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-66425-8. PMC 7316786. PMID 32587406.
  2. ↑ Crichton, Arthur I.; Worthy, Trevor H.; Camens, Aaron B.; Yates, Adam M.; Couzens, Aidan M. C.; Prideaux, Gavin J. (2023-03-19). "A new species of Mukupirna (Diprotodontia, Mukupirnidae) from the Oligocene of Central Australia sheds light on basal vombatoid interrelationships". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 47 (4): 446–474. Bibcode:2023Alch...47..446C. doi:10.1080/03115518.2023.2181397. ISSN 0311-5518. S2CID 257635631.