''Djarthia'' is an extinct monotypic

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

marsupial Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a ...

. It is the oldest marsupial found in Australia, discovered at the Murgon fossil site in south-eastern

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

. ''D.'' ''murgonensis'' was described from material identified as Early Eocene Tingamarran fauna, first published in 1999. It was placed with the clade Australidelphia, which includes the marsupials that dispersed throughout Eastern Gondwanan supercontinent during the Eocene and remain extant in Australia and South America. Skeletal material described include a molar, incomplete

cochlea The cochlea is the part of the inner ear involved in hearing. It is a spiral-shaped cavity in the bony labyrinth, in humans making 2.75 turns around its axis, the modiolus. A core component of the cochlea is the Organ of Corti, the sensory or ...

r and tarsal bone either complete or in fragmented state of preservation.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5285248 Australidelphia Eocene mammals of Australia Eocene marsupials Transitional fossils Fossil taxa described in 1999 Prehistoric marsupial genera