Thylacoleonidae
Sign in to saveThylacoleonidae is a family of extinct carnivorous diprotodontian marsupials from Australia, referred to as marsupial lions. The best known is Thylacoleo carnifex, also called the marsupial lion. The clade ranged from the Late Oligocene to the Late Pleistocene, with some earlier species the size of a possum, while the youngest members of the family belonging to the genus Thylacoleo reached sizes comparable to living big cats.
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5 sectionsContents
- Description
- Ecology
- Taxonomy
- Classification
- References
Thylacoleonidae is a family of extinct carnivorous diprotodontian marsupials from Australia, referred to as marsupial lions. The best known is Thylacoleo carnifex, also called the marsupial lion. The clade ranged from the Late Oligocene to the Late Pleistocene, with some earlier species the size of a possum, while the youngest members of the family belonging to the genus Thylacoleo reached sizes comparable to living big cats.
== Description == thumb|Illustration of lower dentition of Thylacoleo reconstructed by Owen, 1877A notable distinctive feature of thylacoleonids is their unusual blade-like third premolars, which functioned as the carnassial teeth. Thylacoleonids varied widely in body size. One of the smallest thylacoleonids, the Early Miocene Microleo attenboroughi, is estimated to have had a body mass of , while the last species of the family, the Pleistocene Thylacoleo carnifex is suggested to have had a body mass of around , comparable to a big cat. Later members of the group saw progressive reduction in the number of teeth in the jaws.