Thylacoleo Fossil range: late Pliocene—late Pleistocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Infraclass: Marsupialia Order: Diprotodontia Family: Thylacoleonidae Genus: Thylacoleo
Species
Thylacoleo hilli Thylacoleo crassidentatus Thylacoleo carnifex

Thylacoleo ("Pouch Lion") is an extinct genus of carnivorous marsupials that lived in Australia from the late Pliocene to the late Pleistocene (2 MYA to 30,000 years ago). Some of these "marsupial lions" were the largest mammalian predators in Australia of that time, with Thylacoleo carnifex approaching the weight of a small lion. The Pliocene epoch (spelled Pleiocene in some older texts) is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5. ... The Pleistocene epoch (IPA: ) on the geologic timescale is the period from 1,808,000 to 11,550 years BP. The Pleistocene epoch had been intended to cover the worlds recent period of repeated glaciations. ... Scientific classification redirects here. ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria For the folk-rock band see The Mammals. ... Orders Superorder Ameridelphia Didelphimorphia Paucituberculata Superorder Australidelphia Microbiotheria Dasyuromorphia Peramelemorphia Notoryctemorphia Diprotodontia Marsupials are mammals in which the female typically has a pouch (called the marsupium, from which the name Marsupial derives) in which it rears its young through early infancy. ... Suborders Vombatiformes Phalangeriformes Macropodiformes Diprotodontia is a large taxon of about 120 marsupial mammals including the kangaroos, wallabies, possums, Koala, wombats, and many others. ... Genus Thylacoleonidae is a group of extinct meat-eating marsupials from Australia. ... For other uses, see Species (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Thylacoleo carnifex (Owen, 1858) The Marsupial Lion (Thylacoleo carnifex) is an extinct species of carnivorous marsupial, that lived in Australia from about 24 million years ago, during the late Oligocene, and became extinct about 50,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age. ... In biology and ecology, extinction is the ceasing of existence of a species or group of species. ... For other uses, see Genus (disambiguation). ... This article is about mammals. ... The Pliocene epoch (spelled Pleiocene in some older texts) is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5. ... The Pleistocene epoch (IPA: ) on the geologic timescale is the period from 1,808,000 to 11,550 years BP. The Pleistocene epoch had been intended to cover the worlds recent period of repeated glaciations. ... For other uses of mya, see mya (disambiguation). ... Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria For the folk-rock band see The Mammals. ... Binomial name Thylacoleo carnifex (Owen, 1858) The Marsupial Lion (Thylacoleo carnifex) is an extinct species of carnivorous marsupial, that lived in Australia from about 24 million years ago, during the late Oligocene, and became extinct about 50,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age. ... For other uses, see Lion (disambiguation). ...

There are many similarities between prehistoric Australian megafauna and some mythical creatures from the aboriginal dreamtime^{[citation needed]}. Marsupial Lion skeleton in Naracoorte Caves, South Australia. ... Representation of the Rainbow serpent, the Waugal The Dreamtime is the central, unifying theme in Australian Aboriginal mythology. ...

Description

Skeleton of a Thylacoleo carnifex in the Victoria Fossil Cave, Naracoorte Caves National Park.

Pound for pound, Thylacoleo carnifex had the strongest bite of any mammal species living or extinct; a 100 kg (220 lb) T. carnifex had a bite comparable to that of a 250 kg (551 lb) African Lion^[1] and is thought to have hunted large animals such as Diprotodon spp. and giant kangaroos. It also had extremely strong forelimbs, with retractable catlike claws, a trait previously unseen in marsupials. Thylacoleo also possessed enormous hooded claws set on large semi-opposable thumbs, which were used to capture and disembowel prey. The long muscular tail was similar to that of a kangaroo. Specialized tail bones called chevrons allowed the animal to tripod itself, and freed the front legs for slashing and grasping. ^[2] Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3488 × 2616 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3488 × 2616 pixel, file size: 2. ... Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria For the folk-rock band see The Mammals. ... Kg redirects here. ... Look up pound in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Lion (disambiguation). ... Species Diprotodon opatum Diprotodon minor Diprotodon loderi Diprotodon annextans Cast of a Diprotodon skeleton at Queensland Museum. ... Species Macropus rufus Macropus giganteus Macropus fuliginosus Macropus antilopinus A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning large foot). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the Red Kangaroo, the Antilopine Kangaroo, and the Eastern and Western Grey Kangaroo... Chevron bones are a series of bones on the underside of the tail of reptiles. ...

Its strong forelimbs, retracting claws and incredibly powerful jaws mean that it may have been possible for Thylacoleo to climb trees and perhaps to carry carcasses to keep the kill for itself (similar to the leopard today). Due to its unique predatory morphology, scientists repeatedly claim Thylacoleo to be the most specialized mammalian carnivore of all time. ^[3] This article is about the big cat. ...

Thylacoleo was 71 cm (28 in) at the shoulder and about 114 cm (45 in) long from head to tail. The T. carnifex species is the largest, and skulls indicate they averaged 101 kg (223 lb) to 130 kg (287 lb), and individuals reaching 124 kg (273 lb) to 160 kg (353 lb) were common.^[4] A centimetre (American spelling centimeter, symbol cm) is a unit of length that is equal to one hundredth of a metre, the current SI base unit of length. ... An inch (plural: inches; symbol or abbreviation: in or, sometimes, ″ - a double prime) is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ...

Discoveries

Drawing of Thylacoleo carnifex skull fragments by Richard Owen.

Thylacoleo was first described by Sir Richard Owen in 1859.^{[citation needed]} Sir Richard Owen KCB (July 20, 1804–December 18, 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and palaeontologist. ...

In 2002, a remarkably complete skeleton of T. carnifex was discovered in a limestone cave under Nullarbor Plain, where the animal fell to its death through a narrow opening in the plain above.^[5] Also see: 2002 (number). ... For the roadhouse along the Eyre Highway, see Nullarbor, South Australia NASA - Visible Earth, Nullarbor. ...

Taxonomy

Family: Thylacoleonidae (Marsupial lions) Genus Thylacoleonidae is a group of extinct meat-eating marsupials from Australia. ... Binomial name Thylacoleo carnifex (Owen, 1858) The Marsupial Lion (Thylacoleo carnifex) is an extinct species of carnivorous marsupial, (the largest Austrailan mammalian predator at that time) that lived in Australia from about 24 million years ago, during the late Oligocene, and became extinct about 50,000 years ago, during the...

Marsupial "lion" alludes to the superficial resemblance to the placental lion and its ecological niche as a large predator. Thylacoleo is not related to the modern lion Panthera leo. For other uses, see Lion (disambiguation). ...

Genus: Thylacoleo (Thylacopardus) - Australia's marsupial lions, that lived from about 2 million years ago, during the late Pliocene and became extinct about 30,000 years ago, during the late Pleistocene epoch.

• Thylacoleo hilli (Oligocene, Pliocene)
• Thylacoleo crassidentatus (Pliocene)
• Thylacoleo carnifex (Pleistocene)

The family it belonged to, the Thylacoleonidae, had older early members like Priscileo and Wakaleo, dating back to the late Oligocene some 24 million years ago.^[6] The Oligocene epoch is a geologic period of time that extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present. ... Binomial name Thylacoleo carnifex (Owen, 1858) The Marsupial Lion (Thylacoleo carnifex) is an extinct species of carnivorous marsupial, that lived in Australia from about 24 million years ago, during the late Oligocene, and became extinct about 50,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age. ... Binomial name Priscileo pitikantensis Priscileo roskellyae Priscileo genus was the most primitive species of Thylacoleonidae and was found in South Australia and Queensland. ... Species † † †W. vanderleuri Wakaleo was a genus of medium-sized thylacoleonids that lived in Australia in the early to late Miocene. ...

References

A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ...

See also

• Naracoorte Caves National Park

Naracoorte Caves is a national park in South Australia (Australia). ...

External links

Wikispecies has information related to:

Thylacoleo carnifex

• Thylacoleo - Australia's Marsupial Lion
• Thylacoleo in Pleistocene Australia
• Steve Wroe's Web Page: Australian Megafauna
• BBC: Mega-marsupials once roamed Australia