Euryzygoma

Euryzygoma is an extinct genus of marsupial which inhabited humid eucalyptus forests in Queensland and New South Wales during the Pliocene of Australia.[1][2] Euryzygoma is believed to have weighed around 500 kg,[3] and differed from other diprotodonts in having unusual, flaring cheekbones that may have been used either for storing food or for sexual display.[4] Euryzygoma is believed to be the ancestral genus from which Diprotodon evolved.[5]

Euryzygoma
Temporal range: Pliocene
Skull in lateral view
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: †Diprotodontidae
Genus: †Euryzygoma
Longman, 1921
Species:
†E. dunense
Binomial name
†Euryzygoma dunense
De Vis, 1888

References
  1. "Fossilworks: Euryzygoma". fossilworks.org. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
  2. "Anaspides.net". www.anaspides.net. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
  3. MacPhee, R. D. E. (1999-06-30). Extinctions in Near Time. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9780306460920.
  4. Long, John A.; Archer, Michael (2002-01-01). Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea: One Hundred Million Years of Evolution. UNSW Press. ISBN 9780868404356.
  5. Price, Gilbert J.; Piper, Katarzyna J. (December 2009). "Gigantism of the Australian Diprotodon Owen 1838 (Marsupialia, Diprotodontoidea) through the Pleistocene". Journal of Quaternary Science. 24 (8): 1029–1038. doi:10.1002/jqs.1285.
  • "Australia's Lost World: Prehistoric Animals of Riversleigh" by Michael Archer, Suzanne J. Hand, and Henk Godthelp
  • "Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea: One Hundred Million Years of Evolution" by John A. Long, Michael Archer, Timothy Flannery, and Suzanne Hand


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