Biology:Joculusium
| Joculusium | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Dasyuromorphia |
| Genus: | †Joculusium |
| Species: | †J. muizoni
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| Binomial name | |
| †Joculusium muizoni Wroe, 2011[1]
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Joculusium muizoni is a fossil species discovered at the Riversleigh World Heritage Area. Little is known about the animal.
Taxonomy
The species describes a fossilised specimen of an unknown family, but allied to the order Dasyuromorphia with reasonable confidence by the author Stephen Wroe.[1][2] The holotype and only sole known specimen is a lower jaw bone. The epithet of the species muizoni honours the palaeontologist Christian de Muizon and its new genus Joculusium was named in reference to the type locality.[2]
Description
Joculusium muizoni is a fossil species of dasyuromorph, an order of marsupials represented in the modern Australian fauna by the quolls (Dasyuridae), Tasmanian devil and recently extinct thylacine (Thylacinidae).[2] When discovered, the specimen exhibited the least derived characteristics of the known species of the order that was found in dasyurid and thylacinid families.[1] The only specimen is a jaw bone of a carnivore that probably ate smaller vertebrate species or insects.[2]
Distribution
The type locality is middle Miocene (Faunal Zone C, circa 14 myr) at the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, which at that time was a wetter environment dominated by rainforest.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Wroe, S. (2011). "A new genus and species of dasyuromorphian from the Miocene of Riversleigh, Northern Australia.". Memoirs of the Australian Association of Palaeontologists 25: 53–59. http://www.create.unsw.edu.au/research/files/Wroe%20(2001)%20A%20new%20genus%20and%20species%20of%20dasyuromorphian%20from%20.PDF.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Joculusium muizoni ". wakaleo.net. http://www.wakaleo.net/?p=1132. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
Wikidata ☰ Q65041720 entry
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