Dorcopsoides

Dorcopsoides fossilis is a species of extinct marsupial mammals from the kangaroo family, a type and one of a kind Dorcopsoides.[2]

Dorcopsoides
Temporal range: Pliocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Infraclass:
Marsupialia
Order:
Diprotodontia
Family:
Macropodidae
Subfamily:
Macropodinae[1]
Genus:
†Dorcopsoides

Woodburne, 1967
Paleospecies
  • †D. fossilis

Description

Described in 1967 by the well-preserved lower jaw, skull fragments and posterior occipital sites found in the Upper Miocene formations Alkuta ( Eng. Alcoota ) in the north-east of the town of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

It was about the size of a philander. The generic name (Dorcopsoides) indicates a resemblance to shrubby kangaroos ( Dorcopsis ; other Greek. Εἶδος - appearance, appearance, quality), now living in New Guinea and neighboring islands. The species name ( lat. fossilis) expresses the fossil character of the remains.[3]

References
  1. KEAR, B.P. & COOKE, B.N., 2001:12:20. A review of macropodoid systematics with the inclusion of a new family. Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists 25, 83-101. ISSN 0810-8889
  2. at fossilworks.org .
  3. Long, John A. & Archer, Michael (2002). Prehistoric mammals of Australia and New Guinea: one hundred million years of evolution. UNSW Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-0801872235.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)


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