Wakaleo oldfieldi
Wakaleo oldfieldi is an extinct species of marsupial lions of the genus Wakaleo, found in the Cenozoic 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 | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
Order: | Diprotodontia |
Family: | †Thylacoleonidae |
Genus: | †Wakaleo |
Species: | †W. oldfieldi |
Binomial name | |
†Wakaleo oldfieldi | |
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.[1]
References
- Clemens, W.A.; Plane, M. (1974). "Mid-Tertiary Thylacoleonidae (Marsupialia, Mammalia)". Journal of Paleontology. 48 (4): 653–660. ISSN 0022-3360.
- http://www.naturalworlds.org/thylacoleo/introducing/introducing_tc_2.htm Accessed 2007/06/09
External links
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