Ngamalacinus
| Ngamalacinus Temporal range:
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Dasyuromorphia |
| Family: | †Thylacinidae |
| Genus: | †Ngamalacinus Muirhead, 1997[1] |
| Species | |
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Ngamalacinus is an extinct genus of thylacinid marsupial that lived during the late Oligocene and early Miocene of Australia. Fossils have been found in Riversleigh.
Ngamalacinus was a carnivorous, quadrupedal marsupial found in northern Queensland. In appearance it resembled a dog with a long snout. Its molar teeth were specialized for carnivory, the cups and crest were reduced or elongated to give the molars a cutting blade.
Taxonomy
[edit]The description of a genus and species was published in 1997, emerging from examination undertaken by Jeanette Muirhead on specimens obtained at the Riversleigh World Heritage Area. The genus combines the Wanyi ngamala, "died out", and the Ancient Greek kynos, alluding to a "dog" for the resemblance to the canid family.[1] The specific epithet names Tim Mulvaney, who was gifted the honour by his aunt, Margaret Beavis, for long time support toward research of Riversleigh fauna.[2]
In 2024, a new, slightly older species of Ngamalacinus, N. nigelmarveni, was identified from earlier Riversleigh deposits. This species differs from N. timmulvaneyi in aspects of the dentition, and was named after famed British wildlife television presenter Nigel Marven.[3]
Description
[edit]An extinct genus of Thylacinidae, most closely resembling the genus Wabulacinus yet separable from a Wabulacinus–Thylacinus clade as a sister group of those thylacinids. The size and form of the animal is estimated to have been similar to a small-sized dog breed, and inhabited the Riversleigh area with similar sized thylacinids. The discovered existence of multiple taxa in the early Miocene Riversleigh fauna, each presumably specialised to an ecological niche, strongly supported a revised conception of the family's evolutionary history from a monophyletic group of taxa with a narrow range of adaptations and trophic levels.[2]
Specimens referred to Ngamalacinus timmulvaneyi have been obtained at the Inabeyence and Camel Sputum sites at Riversleigh.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Muirhead, J. (1997). "Two new early Miocene thylacines from Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland". Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 41: 367–377.
- ^ a b c Long, J.A.; Archer, M. (2002). Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea: One Hundred Million Years of Evolution. UNSW Press. p. 60. ISBN 9780868404356.
- ^ Churchill, Timothy J.; Archer, Michael; Hand, Suzanne J. (2024-09-06). "Three new thylacinids (Marsupialia, Thylacinidae) from late Oligocene deposits of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. doi:10.1080/02724634.2024.2384595. ISSN 0272-4634.
External links
[edit]
- Natural Worlds Archived 2007-10-09 at the Wayback Machine
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