Wakaleo vanderleuri

Wakaleo vanderleuri; Temporal range: Miocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Marsupialia
Order:	Diprotodontia
Family:	†Thylacoleonidae
Genus:	†Wakaleo
Species:	†W. vanderleuri
Binomial name
	†Wakaleo vanderleuri; Clemens & , 1974

Wakaleo vanderleuri is a species of marsupial lion of the genus Wakaleo, that lived in Australia during the Miocene (about 16 to 10 million years ago).

Description[]

Being a marsupial, it is not closely related to true cats. This animal is hypothesized to have been an omnivore, eating significant amounts of meat, perhaps more like a bear in diet and habit than like an actual lion. It lacked large canine-like fangs, producing some controversy regarding just how much it actually preyed on living animals. The meat-eating hypothesis is based largely upon the morphology of its molar teeth. The species is believed to have been able to hunt by leaping from trees onto its prey.^[2]^[3]

The type species fossils were originally found in the Bullock Creek (Northern Territory) area. It has been found in limestone deposits in Riversleigh.^[3]

The first fossil, a right dentary fragment, was found in 1967 by a group of field workers at Bullock Creek in the Northern Territory. A left dentary of the species in a good state of preservation was described in 1896.^[4] Since then more fossils have been recovered, including a well-preserved near-complete cranium with the mandible intact.^[3]

References[]

^ Clemens, W.A.; Plane, M. (1974). "Mid-Tertiary Thylacoleonidae (Marsupialia, Mammalia)". Journal of Paleontology. 48 (4): 653–660. ISSN 0022-3360.
^ Ellis, Richard (2004). No Turning Back: The Life and Death of Animal Species. New York: Harper Perennial. p. 101. ISBN 0-06-055804-0.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Wakaleo vanderleueri Vanderleuer's Little Lion". Riversleigh faunal encyclopedia. wakaleo.net. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
^ Megirian, D. (28 January 1986). "The dentary of Wakaleo vanderleueri (Thylacoleonidae: Marsupialia)". The Beagle : Occasional Papers of the Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences. 3: 71–79.

External links[]

Mikko's Phylogeny Archive
Australian Museum
Murray, Peter; Megirian, Dirk (1990). "Further observations on the morphology of Wakaleo vanderleueri (Marsupialia:Thylacoleonidae) from the mid-Miocene Camfield beds, Northern Territory". The Beagle : Occasional Papers of the Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences. 7 (1): 91–102.

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[Clemens1974-1] Clemens, W.A.; Plane, M. (1974). "Mid-Tertiary Thylacoleonidae (Marsupialia, Mammalia)". Journal of Paleontology. 48 (4): 653–660. ISSN 0022-3360.

[EllisNTB-2] Ellis, Richard (2004). No Turning Back: The Life and Death of Animal Species. New York: Harper Perennial. p. 101. ISBN 0-06-055804-0.

[wakaleo.net-3] "Wakaleo vanderleueri Vanderleuer's Little Lion". Riversleigh faunal encyclopedia. wakaleo.net. Retrieved 28 May 2019.

[Megirian1986-4] Megirian, D. (28 January 1986). "The dentary of Wakaleo vanderleueri (Thylacoleonidae: Marsupialia)". The Beagle : Occasional Papers of the Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences. 3: 71–79.

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