''Liyamayi dayi'' is a mammal species of the
Thylacomyidae family known from fossils located at the
Riversleigh World Heritage Area in northeast Australia. The discovery of the specimens was identified as deposited around fifteen million years ago, revising the earliest record of this peramelemorphian lineage from those of species that existed around ten million years later.
Taxonomy
A fossil species assigned to a new genus, ''Liyamayi'', in a description by researchers at the Riversleigh fossil area,
K. J. Travouillon,
S. J. Hand
Suzanne J. Hand (born 1955) is an associate professor at the University of New South Wales, a teacher of geology and biology, who has a special interest in vertebrate palaeontology and modern mammals. Her research has been published in over a hund ...
,
M. Archer and
K. H. Black, who identified distinctions in the dentition from other named genera,
for a new species of
Riversleigh fauna was published in 2014, the authors proposing the specific epithet for Robert Day in gratitude for support toward the research project.
The gender of the genus name ''Liyamayi'' is stated to be masculine, and combines two terms from the
Waanyi language, spoken by peoples of the Riversleigh region, ''liya'' and ''mayi'', in reference to the "round tooth" that distinguishes the genus.
Description
A genus known by a single species, ''Liyamayi dayi'' is recognised as an early representative of a
thylacomyid lineage that is separated from the
Chaeropodidae, a family represented by the modern pig-footed bandicoots ''
Chaeropus'', and the
Peramelidae family of extant bandicooots.
The estimates of body mass are from around 650 grams to less than one kilogram. The
holotype and only known specimen is a section of the animal's right maxillary with remaining evidence of intact molars M1–M3 and
alveoli Alveolus (; pl. alveoli, adj. alveolar) is a general anatomical term for a concave cavity or pit.
Uses in anatomy and zoology
* Pulmonary alveolus, an air sac in the lungs
** Alveolar cell or pneumocyte
** Alveolar duct
** Alveolar macrophage
* ...
of the fourth molar.
Distribution and habitat
The distribution of ''Liyamayi dayi'' is restricted to Riversleigh, an area rich in series of well preserved fossil mammals.
The only known location of specimens is Rick's Sausage Site at Riversleigh, a poorly studied site which is probably middle Miocene, Riversleigh Faunal Zone C approximately 15
mya
Mya may refer to:
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* Mya (TV channel), an Italian Television channel
* Midwest Young Artists, a comprehensive youth music program
Codes
* Burmese ...
, at that time part of the wet rainforest that dominated the Riversleigh area.
The fauna discovered at the same site support the evidence of a local wet rainforest environment. Finding evidence of the lineage, known from other sites and thought to have diversified in other regions, implies they were establishing themselves in the region as the local ecology responded to a drier climate.
References
{{taxobar, from=Q66001997, from2=Q66002153
Riversleigh fauna
Peramelemorphs
Mammals described in 2014
Prehistoric marsupial genera
Fossil taxa described in 2014