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Riversleigh Fauna
Riversleigh fauna is the collective term for any species of animal identified in fossil sites located in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area. Faunal zones The presence of the Riversleigh in the Oligo-Miocene has been exceptionally well preserved throughout a number of time periods. These has been classified by four "faunal zones", and may be summarised as, * Faunal Zone A (FZA): late Oligocene, a period 23.03–28.4 million years before present * Faunal Zone B (FZB): early Miocene, 15.97-23.03 myr * Faunal Zone C (FZC): middle Miocene, 11.608-15.97 myr * Faunal Zone D (FZD): late Miocene, 5.332-11.608 myr More recent fossil specimens has also been coded to the period of deposition, * Pliocene (PLIO), a period 2.588-5.332 myr * Pleistocene (PLEIS), 0.0117-2.588 myr * Holocene, noted as (HOLO) to indicate the period dated as following the Pleistocene, from the present day to 11,700 years ago. Faunal lists The following are incomplete lists of mammals, birds, fish, and invertebr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riversleigh World Heritage Area
Riversleigh World Heritage Area is Australia's most famous fossil location, recognised for the series of well preserved fossils deposited from the Late Oligocene to more recent geological periods. The fossiliferous limestone system is located near the Gregory River in the north-west of Queensland, an environment that was once a very wet rainforest that became more arid as the Gondwanan land masses separated and the Australian continent moved north. The approximately area has fossil remains of ancient mammals, birds, and reptiles of the Oligocene and Miocene ages, many of which were discovered and are only known from the Riversleigh area; the species that have occurred there are known as the Riversleigh fauna. The fossils at Riversleigh are unusual because they are found in soft freshwater limestone which has not been compacted. This means the animal remains retain their three-dimensional structure, rather than being partially crushed like in most fossil sites. The area is locat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barinya
''Barinya'' is a fossil genus from the marsupial family Dasyuridae, which contains the oldest known undoubted dasyurid. The principal differences between ''Barinya'' and more recent dasyurids are in the dentition and skull morphology, with ''Barinya'' displaying more primitive features. One described fossil exists and at least one remains to be described. This genus has only been found at Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh), Riversleigh in Queensland, where it is quite common in deposits from the Oligocene, Oligo-Miocene. References {{Taxonbar, from1=Q2280231, from2=Q21446251, from3=Q21224196 Prehistoric dasyuromorphs Prehistoric mammals of Australia Miocene marsupials Prehistoric marsupial genera Riversleigh fauna Fossil taxa described in 1999 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gliding Possum
There are many different types of gliding possum, sometimes referred to as volplane possum, flying phalangers, or simply as gliders: Australian gliders * Feathertail glider or pygmy gliding possum, ''Acrobates pygmaeus'' * Greater glider, ''Petauroides volans'' * Mahogany glider, ''Petaurus gracilis'' * Squirrel glider, ''Petaurus norfolcensis'' * Sugar glider, ''Petaurus breviceps'' * Yellow-bellied glider or fluffy glider, ''Petaurus australis'' New Guinea gliders * Biak glider, ''Petaurus biacensis'' * Northern glider, ''Petaurus abidi'' A characteristic of all species of marsupial gliders is the partially fused ( syndactylous) second and third digits on the hind feet.Gliders of Australia: A Natural History. 2002. David Lindenmayer They achieve gliding flight by use of membranes called patagia The patagium (plural: patagia) is a membranous body part that assists an animal in obtaining lift when gliding or flight. The structure is found in extant and extinct groups of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crash Bandicoot (species)
''Crash bandicoot'' is an extinct bandicoot, known from fossils located at the Riversleigh World Heritage Area in northeast Australia. Taxonomy The primary etymology is a reference to the eponymous character of the video game franchise Crash Bandicoot, and the gender of the genus name ''Crash'' is stated to be masculine. The description for a new species of Riversleigh fauna was published in 2014, the authors proposing the specific epithet for the resemblance to the modern peramelid family of bandicoot and the generic term "crash" for the unexpected appearance of the taxon at a Riversleigh site from the Miocene epoch. The authors state this secondary allusion is to the species "crashing" out of a region of wet rainforest and radiating in the semiarid to arid habitat favoured by the modern species of bandicoots. Description A genus known by a single species, ''Crash bandicoot'' is recognised as an early representative of a Peramelidae, peramelid lineage that separated from t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chunia
''Chunia'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Hamamelidaceae. Its native range is Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l .... Species: * ''Chunia bucklandioides'' H.T.Chang References {{Taxonbar, from=Q628202 Hamamelidaceae Saxifragales genera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phalangeriformes
Phalangeriformes is a paraphyletic suborder of about 70 species of small to medium-sized arboreal marsupials native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi. The species are commonly known as possums, gliders, and cuscus. The common name "possum" for various Phalangeriformes species derives from the creatures' resemblance to the opossums of the Americas (the term comes from Powhatan language ''aposoum'' "white animal", from Proto-Algonquian *''wa·p-aʔɬemwa'' "white dog"). However, although opossums are also marsupials, Australasian possums are more closely related to other Australasian marsupials such as kangaroos. Phalangeriformes are quadrupedal diprotodont marsupials with long tails. The smallest species, indeed the smallest diprotodont marsupial, is the Tasmanian pygmy possum, with an adult head-body length of and a weight of . The largest are the two species of bear cuscus, which may exceed . Phalangeriformes species are typically nocturnal and at least partially arbo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cercartetus
The genus ''Cercartetus'' is a group of very small possums known as pygmy possums. Four species comprise this genus, which together with the genus '' Burramys'' make up the marsupial family Burramyidae. It has occasionally been presumed that ''Cercaërtus'' was a misspelling or synonym of ''Cercartetus''. However, the name ''Cercaërtus'' is a junior synonym of ''Trichosurus'' and not of ''Cercartetus''. Conservation International (CI) and the Indonesia Institute of Science (LIPI) reported on the possible discovery of a new species of ''Cercartetus'' pygmy possum upon visit to the Foja Mountains in June 2007. Species *Genus ''Cercartetus'' ** Long-tailed pygmy possum, ''Cercartetus caudatus'' ** Southwestern pygmy possum, ''Cercartetus concinnus'' **Tasmanian pygmy possum, ''Cercartetus lepidus'' **Eastern pygmy possum The eastern pygmy possum (''Cercartetus nanus'') is a diprotodont marsupial of south-eastern Australia. Occurring from southern Queensland to eastern Sout ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mountain Pygmy Possum
The mountain pygmy possum (''Burramys parvus''); also simply known as the burramys, is a small, mouse-sized (weighs ) nocturnal marsupial of Australia found in dense alpine rock screes and boulder fields, mainly southern Victoria and around Mount Kosciuszko in Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales at elevations from . At almost , its prehensile tail is longer than its combined head and body length. Its diet consists of insects (such as the bogong moth), fleshy fruits, nuts, nectar and seeds. Its body is covered in a thick coat of fine grey fur except for its stomach, which is cream coloured; its tail is hairless. On the underside of the female's body is a pouch containing four teats. This possum is the only extant species in the genus ''Burramys''. It is also the only Australian mammal restricted to alpine habitat. Discovery The mountain pygmy possum was first discovered in the fossil record in 1895 when a portion of the jaw and skull bones were found in the Wombeyan Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burramys
''Burramys'' is a genus of the family Burramyidae, and is represented by one living and 3 extinct (fossil) species. It is one of two genera of pygmy possum, the other being ''Cercartetus''. Taxonomy *Genus ''Burramys'' **†''Burramys wakefieldi'' **†''Burramys triradiatus'' **†''Burramys brutyi'' **''Burramys parvus'' References Possums Marsupial genera Mammal genera with one living species Taxa named by Robert Broom {{Diprotodont-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bulungu (genus)
''Bulungu'' is an extinct genus of bandicoot-like mammal from Oligo-Miocene deposits of Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland, and the Etadunna Formation, Australia. It was first named by Gurovich ''et al.'' (2013) and the type species is ''Bulungu palara''. Two additional species, ''Bulungu campbelli'' adnd ''Bulungu minkinaensis'', were also described in 2013. ''Bulungu muirheadae'' is the oldest fossil bandicoot recovered to date. An additional three species ''Bulungu minkinaensis'', ''Bulungu pinpaensis'', and ''Bulungu westermani'' were named by Travouillon, Beck & Case (2021) allowing for placement of the genus in the superfamily Yaraloidea ''Yarala'' is a genus of fossil mammals that resemble contemporary bandicoots. The superfamily Yaraloidea and family Yaralidae were created following the discovery of the type species ''Yarala burchfieldi'' in 1995, on the basis that it lacks sy .... References Peramelemorphs Oligocene marsupials Prehistoric mammals of Aus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
