A new species of
            <i>Mukupirna</i>
            (Diprotodontia, Mukupirnidae) from the Oligocene of Central Australia sheds light on basal vombatoid interrelationships

Crichton, Arthur I.; Worthy, Trevor H.; Camens, Aaron B.; Yates, Adam M.; Couzens, Aidan M. C.; Prideaux, Gavin J.

doi:10.1080/03115518.2023.2181397

Cited by 5 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…The strict consensus tree had a consistency index of 0.39 and a retention index of 0.77. Our maximum parsimony (strict consensus) and undated Bayesian analyses (majority rule consensus topology of the post-burnin trees) recovered similar topologies to the equivalent analyses of Crichton et al 39 ( Figs. S2–S5, Supplementary 7 ).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 79%

“…Relationships and divergence estimates for extant lineages follow Duchêne et al 6 . Those of extinct lineages follow Beck et al 5 , Travouillon et al 102 , and Crichton et al 38 , 39 . The divergence estimates for extinct vombatiforms and phalangeroids are speculatory.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…Terminology. Higher-level systematic nomenclature follows Aplin and Archer 86 , with the exception of: the use of the suborder Phalangeriformes Szalay 87 , sensu Woodburne 88 ; the superfamily Vombatoidea for the clade that includes Vombatidae + Mukupirnidae + Maradidae following Beck et al 30 and Crichton et al 39 ; and the subordinal placement of Thylacoleonidae as Diprotodontia incertae sedis following Beck et al 5 . We also use ?Wynyardiidae to refer to species within the genera Namilamadeta and Muramura , because their inclusion within the family Wynyardiidae has never been robustly demonstrated 33 , 89 – 91 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…S2–S5, Supplementary 7 ). This reflects that relatively few modifications were made to the morphological characters of Crichton et al 39 . In our unconstrained Bayesian analysis, Lumakoala blackae was weakly supported (BPP = 0.61) as the sister taxon to a moderately supported Phascolarctidae + Vombatomorphia (BPP = 0.82); whereas, under maximum parsimony, it formed a polytomy (BS = 0.88) with Cercartetus lepidus , Thylacoleonidae, and a weakly supported Phascolarctidae + Vombatomorphia (BS = 14%).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Local Fauna, and Age . Initial biochronological assessments have suggested that the Pwerte Marnte Marnte LF is late Oligocene age 38 , 39 , 48 , and may predate the oldest late Oligocene assemblages from the Etadunna and Namba Formations of the southern Lake Eyre Basin, perhaps corresponding to an as-yet-unnamed land mammal age immediately preceding the Etadunnan 29 , 48 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

A probable koala from the Oligocene of central Australia provides insights into early diprotodontian evolution

Crichton,

Beck,

Couzens

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

A probable koala from the Oligocene of central Australia provides insights into early diprotodontian evolution

Crichton,

Beck,

Couzens

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

Self Cite

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Three new thylacinids (Marsupialia, Thylacinidae) from late Oligocene deposits of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland

Churchill,

Archer,

Hand

2024

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology

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OUP accepted manuscript

2021

Contemporary Women's Writing

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Diprotodontians are the morphologically and ecologically most diverse order of marsupials. However, an approximately 30-million-year gap in the Australian terrestrial vertebrate fossil record means that the first half of diprotodontian evolution is unknown. Fossil taxa from immediately either side of this gap are therefore critical for reconstructing the early evolution of the order. Here we report the likely oldest-known koala relatives (Phascolarctidae), from the late Oligocene Pwerte Marnte Marnte Local Fauna (central Australia). These include coeval species of Madakoala and Nimiokoala, as well as a new probable koala (?Phascolarctidae). The new taxon, Lumakoala blackae gen. et sp. nov., was comparable in size to the smallest-known phascolarctids, with body-mass estimates of 2.2-2.6 kg. Its bunoselenodont upper molars retain the primitive metatherian condition of a continuous centrocrista, and distinct stylar cusps B and D which lacked occlusion with the hypoconid. This structural arrangement: (1) suggests a morphocline within Phascolarctidae from bunoselenodonty to selenodonty; and (2) better clarifies the evolutionary transitions between molar morphologies within Vombatomorphia. We hypothesize that the molar form of Lumakoala blackae approximates the ancestral condition of the suborder Vombatiformes. Furthermore, it provides a plausible link between diprotodontians and the putative polydolopimorphians Chulpasia jimthorselli and Thylacotinga bartholomaii from the early Eocene Tingamarra Local Fauna (eastern Australia), which we infer as having molar morphologies consistent with stem diprotodontians.Australia is renowned for the uniqueness of its biota, particularly its marsupials. This remarkable endemism is due mainly to their Gondwanan ancestry 1,2 , and long isolation following the continent's separation from Antarctica around 45 million years ago (mya) 3,4 . Much of the morphological and ecological diversity of Australian marsupials is manifested within the order Diprotodontia, which comprises two suborders of primarily herbivorous taxa-Vombatiformes (wombats, koalas and extinct relatives) and Phalangerida (possums and kangaroos)-as well as Thylacoleonidae (marsupial 'lions'; Diprotodontia incertae sedis 5 ) (Fig. 1). Molecular-clock analyses suggest that Diprotodontia diverged from Agreodontia (Dasyuromorphia + Peramelemorphia + Notoryctemorphia) sometime between the latest Cretaceous and the earliest middle Eocene 5-14 . This is important from a biogeographic standpoint because it implies that diprotodontians had diverged before the final separation of Australia and Antarctica. Yet, no definitive fossil diprotodontians from prior to the late Oligocene are known, with the possible exception of diprotodontian-like tarsals from the early or middle Eocene of southern Argentina 15 .Just two Australian fossil assemblages dating between 110 and 25 mya have yielded mammals 16,17 , leaving a massive gap spanning virtually the entire window of Australian marsupial origins 18,19 . In this window, taxon description...

show abstract

A new species of Mukupirna (Diprotodontia, Mukupirnidae) from the Oligocene of Central Australia sheds light on basal vombatoid interrelationships

Cited by 5 publications

References 65 publications

A probable koala from the Oligocene of central Australia provides insights into early diprotodontian evolution

A probable koala from the Oligocene of central Australia provides insights into early diprotodontian evolution

Three new thylacinids (Marsupialia, Thylacinidae) from late Oligocene deposits of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland

OUP accepted manuscript

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