Woodburnodon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Woodburnodon
Temporal range: Eocene
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Microbiotheria
Family: †Woodburnodontidae
Goin et al., 2007
Genus: †Woodburnodon
Goin et al., 2007
Species:
†W. casei
Binomial name
†Woodburnodon casei
Goin et al., 2007[1]

Woodburnodon is an extinct genus of Microbiotherian marsupial whose fossils have been found on Seymour Island, Antarctica. It lived during the Eocene epoch.

Taxonomy[]

The genus is represented by single species, Woodburnodon casei, which was described in 2007 from fossils found on the Antarctic peninsula.[2] Woodburnodon is currently the only formally described species in the family Woodburnodontidae, although fossils of a unidentified Early Eocene woodburnodontids have also been found in Patagonia.[3]

Description[]

Woodburnodon was the largest known member of the order Microbiotheria. It was at least three or four times larger than the microbiotherid , which has been estimated at 215–312 g (7.6–11.0 oz).[2] This would put the size of Woodburnodon at around 1 kg (2.2 lb).

References[]

  1. ^ "Woodburnodon". Fossilworks.
  2. ^ a b Goin, F. J.; Zimicz, N.; Reguero, M. A.; Santillana, S. N.; Marenssi, S. A.; Moly, J. J. (2007). "New marsupial (Mammalia) from the Eocene of Antarctica, and the origins and affinities of the Microbiotheria". Revista de la Asociación Geológica Argentina. 62 (4): 597–603. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
  3. ^ Goin, F. J.; Woodburne, M. O.; Zimicz, A. N.; Martin, G. M.; Chornogubsky, L. (16 October 2015). A Brief History of South American Metatherians: Evolutionary Contexts and Intercontinental Dispersals. Springer. p. 216. ISBN 978-94-017-7420-8.
Retrieved from ""