Mukupirna
| Mukupirna Temporal range: Late Oligocene, 25Ma
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| Genus: | †Mukupirna
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Mukupirna is an extinct genus of marsupials whose fossils have been recovered in Australia and dated to around 25 million years ago during the Oligocene Epoch. It was wombat-like with the main difference being that it was rather huge compared to modern wombats with estimates placing it between 141 and 173 kilograms (311 and 381 lb) in body mass, comparable in size to a male Asiatic black bear. It was probably a great digger and had developed teeth that would have allowed it to feed on sedges, roots and tubers. Mukupirna nambensis had a mix of characteristics between wombats and an extinct group of marsupials called wynyardiids. M. nambensis was coined by Beck et al. (2020) and M. fortidentatus was coined by Crichton et al. (2023).[1][2]
Species
[edit]- †Mukupirna nambensis
- †Mukupirna fortidentata
References
[edit]- ^ "Giant Wombat-Like Marsupials Roamed Australia 25 Million Years Ago". 26 June 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
- ^ "A new species of Mukupirna (Diprotodontia, Mukupirnidae) from the Oligocene of Central Australia sheds light on basal vombatoid interrelationships". 19 March 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
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