''Muribacinus gadiyuli'' lived during the middle

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

in Riversleigh. The species name comes from Wanyi aboriginal word for "little", in reference to its considerably small size compared to the modern

thylacine The thylacine ( , or , also ) (''Thylacinus cynocephalus'') is an extinct carnivorous marsupial that was native to the Australian mainland and the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea. The last known live animal was captured in 1930 in Tasman ...

and was similar in size to a fox-terrier dog, and "father" for the ancestral characteristics of the fossilised teeth. ''M. gadiyuli'' was a quadrupedal marsupial predator, that in appearance looked similar to a dog with a long snout. Its molar teeth were specialized for carnivory; the cups and crest were reduced or elongated to give the molars a cutting blade. The holotype and only specimens are a well preserved right maxilla, right dentary, and the holotype, a section of the jugal bone.

Taxonomy

The description by Stephen Wroe was published in 1995, the author deriving the specific epithet from a

Wanyi The Waanyi people, also spelt Wanyi, Wanji, or Waanji, are an Aboriginal Australian people from south of the Gulf of Carpentaria in Queensland and the Northern Territory. Language The Waanyi language, although earlier thought to be extinct, w ...

word ''gadiyuli'', meaning "little"; the Wanyi people are associated with the type location at Riversleigh. The new species was assigned to a new genus of

Thylacinidae Thylacinidae is an extinct family of carnivorous, superficially dog-like marsupials from the order Dasyuromorphia. The only species to survive into modern times was the thylacine (''Thylacinus cynocephalus''), which became extinct in 1936. The ...

, the generic name ''Muribacinus'' was also derived from the Wanyi language, the term ''muriba'' for father combined with the Ancient Greek term for dog, ''kynos'', for the assumed classification as an early thylacinid species.

References

External links

Natural Worlds
Prehistoric thylacines Prehistoric mammals of Australia Miocene marsupials Riversleigh fauna Prehistoric marsupial genera {{paleo-marsupial-stub