Prehistoric Models: Marsupialia
(pouched animals)
Mammals are a class animals defined as warm-blooded vertebrates, distinguished by the possession of hair or fur, the secretion of milk by females for the nourishment of the young, and (typically) the birth of live young (with only two modern exceptions).
Marsupials are commonly called “pouched mammals” due to their unique way of caring for young. Marsupials had a wider range in the fossil record, specifically in North America and Asia. Today they are found primarily in Australia, New Guinea, Tazmania, and the surounding small islands.
Kingdom: Animalia – Phylum: Chordata – Superclass: Tetrapoda – Class: Mammalia – Infraorder: Marsupialia – Order: Diprotodontia
(Large to medium herbivourous marsupial)
Late Oligocene to Holocene
Genus and species: Osphranter rufus
Common name: Red Kangaroo
Classification: Suborder: Macropodiformes – Family: Osphranter
Time: Early Pleistocene to Holocene
Range: Australia
Diet: Herbivore (grazer)
Common name: Wallabies
Classification: Suborder: Macropodiformes – Family: Macropodidae
Time: Pleistocene to Holocene
Range: Australia
Diet: Herbivore (grazer)
Genus and species: Trichosurus vulpecula
Common name: Common brushtail possum
Classification: Family: Phalangeridae
Time: Holocene
Range: Tasmania
Diet: Omnivore
Name: Diprotodon ”Two forward teeth”
Pronounced: Di-proe-toe-don
Named By: Richard Owen - 1838
Classification: Infraclass: Marsupialia – Order: Diprotodontia – Superfamily: Vombatiformes – Family: Diprotodontidae
Species: D. optatum (type)
Size: Up 3 meters long, 2 meters tall at the shoulder
Time period: Pleistocene (Calabrian to mid/late Tarantian)
Known locations: Australia
Diet: Herbivore
Genus and species: Vombatus ursinus
Common name: Common Wombat
Classification: Superfamily: Vombatoidea – Family: Vombatidae
Time: Early Pleistocene to Holocene
Range: Australia and Tasmania
Diet: Herbivore
Genus and species: Vombatus ursinus
Common name: Common Wombat
Classification: Superfamily: Vombatoidea – Family: Vombatidae
Time: Early Pleistocene to Holocene
Range: Australia and Tasmania
Diet: Herbivore
Genus and species: Phascolarctos cinereus
Common name: Female Koala and cub
Classification: Family: Phascolarctidae
Time: Middle Pleistocene to Holocene
Range: Eastern Australia
Diet: Herbivore (browser)
Genus and species: Phascolarctos cinereus
Common name: Male Koala
Classification: Family: Phascolarctidar
Time: Middle Pleistocene to Holocene
Range: Eastern Australia
Diet: Herbivore (browser)
Kingdom: Animalia – Phylum: Chordata – Superclass: Tetrapoda – Class: Mammalia – Infraorder: Marsupialia – Order: Dasyuromorphia
(Carnivourous marsupials)
Late Oligocene to Holocene
Genus and species: Thylacine cynocephalus
Common name: Tazmanian Tiger
Classification: Family: Thylacinidae
Time: Pleistocene to Holocene-1936
Range: Australia, New Guinea, and Tasmania
Diet: Carnivore
Genus and species: Sarcophilus harrisii
Common name: Tazmanian Devil
Classification: Family: Dasyuridae
Time: Late Holocene
Range: Australia and Tasmania
Diet: Carnivore
Genus and species: Mymecobius fasciatus
Common name: Numbat
Classification: Family: Myrmecobiidae
Time: Holocene
Range: Australia
Diet: Carnivore
Genus and species: Dasyuridae maculatus
Common name: Tiger quoll
Classification: Family: Dasyuridae
Time: Holocene
Range: Eastern Australia
Diet: Carnivore
Kingdom: Animalia – Phylum: Chordata – Superclass: Tetrapoda – Class: Mammalia – Infraorder: Marsupialia – Clade: Agreodontia – Order: Peramelemorphia
(Bandicoots)
Late Oligocene to Holocene
