Craniodental Morphology And Phylogeny Of Marsupials
Author
Beck, Robin M. D.
School of Science, Engineering and Environment University of Salford, U. K. & School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences University of New South Wales, Australia & Division of Vertebrate Zoology (Mammalogy) American Museum of Natural History
Author
Voss, Robert S.
Division of Vertebrate Zoology (Mammalogy) American Museum of Natural History
Author
Jansa, Sharon A.
Bell Museum and Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior University of Minnesota
text
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History
2022
2022-06-28
2022
457
1
353
https://bioone.org/journals/bulletin-of-the-american-museum-of-natural-history/volume-457/issue-1/0003-0090.457.1.1/Craniodental-Morphology-and-Phylogeny-of-Marsupials/10.1206/0003-0090.457.1.1.full
journal article
10.1206/0003-0090.457.1.1
0003-0090
6971356
†
Rhizosthenurus
SPECIES SCORED: †
Rhizosthenurus flanneryi
(
type
and only described species).
GEOLOGICAL PROVENANCE OF SCORED SPECIMENS: Encore Site, Riversleigh Faunal Zone D, Riversleigh World Heritage Area,
Queensland
,
Australia
.
AGE OF SCORED SPECIMENS: Riversleigh Faunal Zone D is estimated to be early late Miocene based on biostratigraphy (see above). In the absence of radiometric dates, however, we have assumed the entire span of the late Miocene (Tortonian to Messinian; Cohen et al., 2013 [updated]) for this terminal.
ASSIGNED AGE
RANGE
:
11.630
–5.333
Mya.
REMARKS: Kear et al. (2001a) described macropodiform postcranial remains from the Encore Site of Riversleigh Faunal Zone D, which they interpreted as representing an unidentified species of the “bulungamayine” genus †
Wanburoo
. In a subsequent paper, Kear (2002) reallocated this material to a new species, †
Rhizosthenurus flanneryi
. The sthenurine affinities of †
R. flanneryi
were supported by Kear et al.’s (2001a) and Kear’s (2002) phylogenetic analyses of postcranial characters, and by subsequent analyses of combined craniodental and postcranial evidence (Kear et al., 2007; Bates et al., 2014; Black et al., 2014c; Travouillon et al., 2014b, 2015a; Cooke et al., 2015). A well-preserved skull is associated with the
holotype
postcranial skeleton of †
R. flanneryi
(
QM
F31456
), and additional isolated teeth from the Encore site have also been referred to this taxon in an unpublished thesis (Kirkham, 2004). We examined these craniodental specimens of †
R. flanneryi
(which have yet to be formally described) to score character data for this study.