Riversleigh rainforest koala
| Riversleigh rainforest koala Temporal range: middle Miocene | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Comparison of N. greystanesi (top) and Litokoala (lower) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Diprotodontia |
| Family: | Phascolarctidae |
| Genus: | Nimiokoala |
| Species: | N. greystanesi |
| Binomial name | |
| Nimiokoala greystanesi Black and Archer, 1997 | |
The Riversleigh rainforest koala (Nimiokoala greystanesi) is an extinct species of marsupial, closely related to the modern koala, though it may not look like a koala, that lived 10–16 million years ago in the middle Miocene of Queensland. It probably had a diet of leaves similar to that of the modern species, but whether it specialized on eucalypt leaves is unknown.[1] It was a third of a modern koala's size, being 25–30 cm long, and the mouth protruded from the skull.[1] To date, a partial skull has been found along with several lower jaws and isolated teeth, containing in aggregate the entire dentition.[1]
References
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