Madakoala

Madakoala
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Phascolarctidae
Genus: †Madakoala
Woodburne, Tedford, Archer, and Pledge, 1987
Species
  • †Madakoala devisi[1]
  • ††Madakoala wellsi[1]
  • †Madakoala robustus[1]

Madakoala is a genus of extinct phascolarctid marsupials with three known species, Madakoala devisi, Madakoala wellsi and Madakoala robustus. It is allied to extinct genera Invictokoala, Koobor, Litokoala, Nimiokoala, Perikoala, Phascolarctos and Priscakoala, along with Phascolarctos, the genus of the existing koala. Madakoala went extinct around 280,000 years ago in the Pleistocene epoch.[1] They are known to exist by limited cranial material in fossils, so the existence of some of the subspecies is questionable because of missing dental data.[2]

  1. ^ a b c d Woodburne, M. O.; Tedford, R. H.; Archer, M.; Pledge, N. S. (1987). "Madakoala, a new genus and two species of Miocene koalas (Marsupialia: Phascolarctidae) from South Australia, and a new species of Perikoala". In Archer, M. (ed.). Possums and opossums: studies in evolution. Chipping Norton, NSW: Surrey Beatty & Sons. pp. 293–317. ISBN 0-949324-05-1.
  2. ^ Black, Karen H.; Archer, Michael; Hand, Suzanne J. (2012). "New Tertiary Koala (Marsupialia, Phascolarctidae) From Riversleigh, Australia, With a Revision of Phascolarctid Phylogenetics, Paleoecology, and Paleobiodiversity". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 32 (1): 125–138. Bibcode:2012JVPal..32..125B. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.626825. ISSN 0272-4634. JSTOR 41407712. S2CID 86152273. Retrieved March 26, 2021.