''Megalibgwilia'' is a genus of echidna known only from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n fossils that incorporates the oldest-known echidna species. The genus ranged from the Miocene until the late Pleistocene, becoming extinct about 50,000 years ago. ''Megalibgwilia'' species were more widespread in warmer and moist climates. The extinction can be attributed to increasing aridification in Southern Australia. ''Megalibgwilia'' was first described from a broken left

humerus The humerus (; ) is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extremity consists of a roun ...

Richard Owen Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and paleontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkable gift for interpreting fossils. Owe ...

in 1884, as ''"Echidna" ramsayi''. Complete skulls and postcranial fossils have since been described. A second species, ''M. robusta'', was described in 1896 by Australian paleontologist

William Sutherland Dun William Sutherland Dun (1 July 1868 – 7 October 1934) was an Australian palaeontologist, geologist and president of the Royal Society of New South Wales. Dun was the son of Major Percy Henderson Dun, formerly of the East India Company's army, a ...

. ''Megalibgwilia'' comes from Greek ''mégas'' (μέγᾰς) and Wemba Wemba ''libgwil'' (plus the Latin suffix ''-ia''), meaning echidna. Although they are sometimes commonly referred to as giant echidnas, ''Megalibgwilia'' species are thought to have been similar in size to the contemporary western long-beaked echidna, but with slightly longer forearms. They were smaller than a large species known from fossils in Australia, '' Murrayglossus''. ''M. ramsayi'' fossils have been found in deposits across mainland Australia and on Tasmania. ''M. robusta'' has only been found in New South Wales.Long, J., Archer, M., Flannery, T. and Hand, S. 2002. ''Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea: One Hundred Million Years of Evolution''. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp 45–47. . ''Megalibgwilia'' was probably an insect-eater, like the short-beaked echidna, rather than a worm-eater like members of ''

Zaglossus The long-beaked echidnas (genus ''Zaglossus'') make up one of the two extant genus, genera of echidnas, spiny monotremes that live in New Guinea; the other being the short-beaked echidna. There are three living species and one extinct species in ...

''. ''M. robusta'' is the oldest-known echidna and the only known Miocene species.

References

External links

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Extinct Animals : Megalibgwilia ramsayi
- Reconstructions and skull images from Parks and Wildlife, South Australia {{Taxonbar, from=Q312072 Prehistoric monotremes Miocene mammals of Australia Pliocene mammals Pleistocene mammals Prehistoric mammal genera Fossil taxa described in 1884