Sthenurus

Sthenurus[1][2]
Temporal range: Pliocene–Pleistocene
Disarticulated Sthenurus sp. skeleton at the Museum of Victoria
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Suborder: Macropodiformes
Family: Macropodidae
Subfamily: †Sthenurinae
Tribe: †Sthenurini
Genus: †Sthenurus
(Owen, 1873a)
Paleospecies
  • †Sthenurus andersoni
  • †Sthenurus atlas
  • †Sthenurus maddocki
  • †Sthenurus newtonae
  • †Sthenurus occidentalis
  • †Sthenurus oreas
  • †Sthenurus orientalis
  • †Sthenurus pales
  • †Sthenurus stirlingi
  • †Sthenurus tindalei

Sthenurus ("strong tail") is an extinct genus of kangaroos. With a length around 3 m (10 ft), some species were twice as large as modern extant species. Sthenurus was related to the better-known Procoptodon. The subfamily Sthenurinae is believed to have separated from its sister taxon, the Macropodinae (kangaroos and wallabies), halfway through the Miocene, and then its population grew during the Pliocene.[3]

  1. ^ Haaramo, M. (2004-12-20). "Mikko's Phylogeny Archive: Macropodidae - kenguroos". Archived from the original on 2007-03-31. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
  2. ^ Gavin J. Prideaux, John A. Long, Linda K. Ayliffe, John C. Hellstrom, Brad Pillans, Walter E. Boles, Mark N. Hutchinson, Richard G. Roberts, Matthew L. Cupper, Lee J. Arnold, Paul D. Devine & Natalie M. Warburton (2007-01-25). "An arid-adapted middle Pleistocene vertebrate fauna from south-central Australia". Nature. 445 (7126): 422–425. Bibcode:2007Natur.445..422P. doi:10.1038/nature05471. PMID 17251978. S2CID 4429899.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Sears, K. E. (2005). "Role of development in the evolution of the scapula of the giant sthenurine kangaroos (Macropodidae: Sthenurinae)". J. Morphol. 265 (2): 226–236. doi:10.1002/jmor.10353. PMID 15977203. S2CID 38419150.