Procoptodon

Procoptodon
Temporal range: Pleistocene
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Procoptodon gilli skull.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Macropodidae
Subfamily: †Sthenurinae
Genus: †Procoptodon
Owen, 1873
Type species
P. goliah
Species[1]
  • P. goliah
    Owen, 1873
  • P. pusio
    Owen, 1874
  • P. rapha
    Owen, 1874
  • P? browneorum
    (Merrilees, 1968)
  • P? gilli
    (Merrilees, 1968)
  • P? mccoyi
    (Turnbull, Lundelius & Tedford, 1992)
  • P? oreas
    (De Vis, 1895)
  • P? williamsi
    Prideaux, 2004

Procoptodon[2] is an extinct genus of giant short-faced (sthenurine) kangaroos that lived in Australia during the Pleistocene Epoch. P. goliah, the largest known kangaroo species that ever existed, stood at about 2 m (6.6 ft).[3] They weighed about 200–240 kg (440–530 lb).[4] Other members of the genus were smaller, however; Procoptodon gilli was the smallest of all of the sthenurine kangaroos, standing approximately 1 m (3 ft 3 in) tall.

The genus is derived from Simosthenurus, making the latter genus paraphyletic.[1]: 285 

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference SESK was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Haaramo, M. (2004-12-20). "Mikko's Phylogeny Archive: Macropodidae - kenguroos". Archived from the original on 2007-03-31. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
  3. ^ "Procoptodon goliah". Australian Museum. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  4. ^ Helgen, Kristopher M.; Wells, Rod; Kear, Benjamin P.; Gerdtz, Wayne R.; Flannery, Timmothy F. (2006). "Ecological and evolutionary significance of sizes of giant extinct kangaroos". Australian Journal of Zoology. 54 (4): 293–303. doi:10.1071/ZO05077.