Diprotodontidae

The Diprotodontidae are an extinct family of large herbivorous marsupials, endemic to Australia and New Guinea during the Oligocene through Pleistocene periods from 28.4 million to 40,000 years ago.[1] The family consisted of large quadrupedal terrestrial browsers, notably including the largest marsupial that ever lived, the rhino-sized Diprotodon.[2] The group first appeared during the Late Oligocene, with representatives that were mostly sheep-sized, and substantially diversified beginning during the Late Miocene, reaching an apex of diversity during the Pliocene with seven genera, likely due to the increase of open forested landscapes. The last known members of the group including Diprotodon and Zygomaturus from mainland Australia, and Hulitherium and Maokopia from New Guinea became extinct during the Late Pleistocene around 40,000 years ago, after the arrival of humans to Australia-New Guinea.[3]

Diprotodontidae
Temporal range:
Restoration of Diprotodon
Fossil of Zygomaturus
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Superfamily: †Diprotodontoidea
Family: †Diprotodontidae
Gill, 1872
Subfamilies & genera

References
  1. PaleoBiology Database: Diprotodontidae, basic info
  2. Price, Gilbert J.; Ferguson, Kyle J.; Webb, Gregory E.; Feng, Yue-xing; Higgins, Pennilyn; Nguyen, Ai Duc; Zhao, Jian-xin; Joannes-Boyau, Renaud; Louys, Julien (2017-09-27). "Seasonal migration of marsupial megafauna in Pleistocene Sahul (Australia–New Guinea)". Proc. R. Soc. B. 284 (1863): 20170785. doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.0785. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 5627191. PMID 28954903.
  3. Black, K. H.; Archer, M.; Hand, S. J.; Godthelp, H. (2012). "The Rise of Australian Marsupials: A Synopsis of Biostratigraphic, Phylogenetic, Palaeoecologic and Palaeobiogeographic Understanding". In Talent, J. A. (ed.). Earth and life: global biodiversity, extinction intervals and biogeographic perturbations through time. Springer Verlag. pp. 1040, 1047. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-3428-1_35.
  • Vertebrate Palaeontology by Michael J. Benton (page 314)
  • Wildlife of Gondwana: Dinosaurs and Other Vertebrates from the Ancient Supercontinent (Life of the Past) by Pat Vickers Rich, Thomas Hewitt Rich, Francesco Coffa, and Steven Morton
  • Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea: One Hundred Million Years of Evolution by John A. Long, Michael Archer, Timothy Flannery, and Suzanne Hand (page 77)


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