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Michael Archer - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Functional and morphometric analysis of a middle Miocene bandicoot (Marsupialia, Peramelemorphia) skeleton from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Australia
2017Co-Authors: Karen H Black, Kenny J. Travouillon, Michael Archer, Suzanne J. Hand, Troy J. Myers, Laura A. B. Wilson, Joseph J. BevittAbstract:Peramelemorphia comprises four families: the extant Peramelidae (bandicoots), and Thylacomyidae (bilbies); the recently extinct Chaeropodidae (pig-footed bandicoot); and the extinct Yaralidae; with at least ten fossil species of uncertain familial affinity designated as Perameloidea incertae sedis. Extant taxa (18 species) are characteristically omnivorous, small to medium sized (0.1-4.9 kg) semi-fossorial/fossorial marsupials with a quadrupedal bounding gait. They occupy varied habitats from desert to rainforest in Australia and New Guinea. Fourteen pre-Pliocene taxa are currently described on the basis of cranial and/or dental material, yet none is known from its postcranial skeleton. Here we use qualitative morphological and morphometric data to analyse a partial skeleton of a new species of bandicoot from a middle Miocene cave deposit, AL90 Site, in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area. AL90 has been radiometrically dated at 14.7-15.1 Ma, however the species is abundant in numerous early to middle Miocene deposits at Riversleigh The AL90 specimen preserves the skull and dentaries, the fore-and hindlimbs, and elements of the manus, pes and axial skeleton. The species is estimated to have weighed approximately 300g (based on predictive marsupial craniodental regression equations) which is comparable among extant bandicoots to Perameles bougainville (Western barred bandicoot). Unlike modern species, the appendicular skeleton of the fossil taxon is less well-adapted for scratch-digging and fossorial behaviours. A striking contrast is the relatively elongate, gracile bones of the antebrachium of the fossil taxon compared with the generally short, robust forearm of modern bandicoots. Collectively, our data indicate a more generalized niche for this species than crown group Peramelemorphians and may support suggestions that archaic bandicoots filled an ecological niche later dominated by small dasyurids during the late Cainozoic.
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A review of the Pliocene bandicoots of Australia, and descriptions of new genus and species
2017Co-Authors: Kenny J. Travouillon, Michael Archer, Suzanne J. Hand, Julien Louys, Gilbert J. Price, Jeanette MuirheadAbstract:The Pliocene fossil record of Australia has revealed the oldest known occurrences of modern Peramelemorphian (bandicoot and bilbies) genera such as Perameles, cf. Peroryctes, and Chaeropus. Recent phylogenetic analyses based on morphology have questioned the previously accepted understanding about generic relationships of some of these Pliocene taxa. These doubts limit our ability to develop independent divergence models based on molecular data because they depend on fossil records in order to calibrate minimum rates of change. Hence, there is a need to critically review the Pliocene fossil record. To this end, we have examined Pliocene specimens of Peramelemorphians in museum collections across Australia and performed a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis based on dental and cranial morphology to review and accordingly revise subfamilial taxonomy. As part of this revision, we describe here two new species, one from the Chinchilla Local Fauna (LF) in Queensland (Perameles wilkinsonorum, sp. nov.) and one from both the Big Sink LF in the Wellington Caves area and the Bow LF in New South Wales (Silvicultor karae, gen. et sp. nov.). We reassign the two ‘Peroryctes’ species from Hamilton LF, Victoria, to a new genus (Silvicultor). We summarize the distribution of Peramelemorphians during the Pliocene and show how climate change appears to have shaped their subsequent Quaternary distribution. SUPPLEMENTAL DATA—Supplemental materials are available for this article for free at www.tandfonline.com/UJVP Citation for this article: Travouillon, K. J., J. Louys, G. J. Price, M. Archer, S. J. Hand, and J. Muirhead. 2017. A review of the Pliocene bandicoots of Australia, and descriptions of new genus and species. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2017.1360894.
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kutjamarcoot brevirostrum gen et sp nov a new short snouted early miocene bandicoot marsupialia Peramelemorphia from the kutjamarpu local fauna wipajiri formation in south australia
Alcheringa, 2016Co-Authors: P M Chamberlain, Kenny J. Travouillon, Michael Archer, Suzanne J. HandAbstract:Chamberlain, P.M., Travouillon, K.J., Archer, M. & Hand, S.J., November 2015. Kutjamarcoot brevirostrum gen. et sp. nov., a new short-snouted, early Miocene bandicoot (Marsupialia: Peramelemorphia) from the Kutjamarpu Local Fauna (Wipajiri Formation) in South Australia. Alcheringa 40, XX–XX. ISSN 0311-5518.A new bandicoot species, Kutjamarcoot brevirostrum gen. et sp. nov. (Peramelemorphia), is described here from the Leaf Locality, Kutjamarpu Local Fauna (LF), Wipajiri Formation (South Australia). The age of the fossil deposit is interpreted as early Miocene on the basis of biocorrelation between multiple species in the Kutjamarpu LF and local faunas from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area (WHA). Kutjamarcoot brevirostrum is represented by isolated teeth and three partial dentaries and appears to have been short-snouted with an estimated mass of 920 g. Phylogenetic analyses place K. brevirostrum in a clade with extant Australian bandicoots and the extinct Madju, but potentially exclude the extant New Gu...
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Sexually Dimorphic Bandicoots (Marsupialia: Peramelemorphia) From the Oligo-Miocene of Australia, First Cranial Ontogeny for Fossil Bandicoots and New Species Descriptions
Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 2015Co-Authors: Kenny J. Travouillon, Michael Archer, Suzanne J. Hand, Jeanette MuirheadAbstract:Peramelemorphians (bandicoots and bilbies) are unique among mammals in having the shortest gestation period. Very little is known about their evolutionary history primarily because until recently their fossil record was scarce. Here we describe two new species, Madju variae, gen. et sp. nov., from late Oligocene to middle Miocene deposits from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Queensland, and the Kutjamarpu Local Fauna, South Australia, and Madju encorensis, gen. et sp. nov., also from Riversleigh WHA but from the late middle to early late Miocene. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that they are best regarded as basal members of the Superfamily Perameloidea. Species of Madju are unusual in showing a distinct reduction in size through time, possibly reflecting environmental change from the early to late Miocene. Madju variae is the first-known sexually dimorphic fossil Peramelemorphian. The preservation and representation of specimens of M. variae is exceptional, enabling documentation of ontogenetic development from juvenile to old adult stage suggesting that juveniles of M. variae developed more slowly than their modern counterparts and that lactation lasted for a longer time. If so, the short gestation of modern Peramelemorphians would appear to be a specialisation that might have evolved sometime after the middle Miocene.
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The Osteology and Systematics of the Enigmatic Australian Oligo-Miocene Metatherian Yalkaparidon (Yalkaparidontidae; Yalkaparidontia; ?Australidelphia; Marsupialia)
Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 2014Co-Authors: Robin M D Beck, Henk Godthelp, Ken P. Aplin, Kenny J. Travouillon, Michael ArcherAbstract:We provide the first detailed description of the osteology of the enigmatic Oligo-Miocene Australian metatherian Yalkaparidon . This taxon exhibits a number of unusual craniodental apomorphies but appears to be plesiomorphic within Metatheria in retaining four molars, rather than three as previously reported. We demonstrate that the only known skull of Yalkaparidon almost certainly represents a single individual. We also tentatively refer a number of isolated tarsals to the genus. Maximum parsimony analyses of a 258 character morphological matrix (with information from the tarsals described here either included or excluded) place Yalkaparidon within the superordinal clade Australidelphia, but Bayesian analyses of the same matrix are less well resolved, placing Yalkaparidon within Marsupialia but without unequivocally supporting australidelphian affinities. Bayesian analyses of a total evidence matrix that combines the morphological data with 9 kb of sequence data from five nuclear protein-coding genes (APOB, BRCA1, IRBP, RAG1 and VWF), 78 indels, and 53 retroposon insertion characters are similarly poorly resolved and do not clarify the supraordinal relationships of Yalkaparidon beyond suggesting that it is probably a member of Marsupialia. However, if the tarsal remains are correctly attributed to Yalkaparidon , then membership of Australidelphia seems likely, as these specimens exhibit characteristic australidelphian apomorphies. We conclude that the ordinal status of Yalkaparidon remains justified based on current evidence, and we present a revised diagnosis for Yalkaparidontia. We maintain the two currently recognized species, Y. coheni and Y. jonesi , but present revised specific diagnoses. We suggest a revised phylogenetic definition for Marsupialia, and provide phylogenetic definitions for Eomarsupialia (the clade comprising all extant Australian marsupial orders) and for the clade comprising Dasyuromorphia, Peramelemorphia, and Notoryctemorphia to the exclusion of Diprotodontia; we propose the name Agreodontia for the latter clade.
Kenny J. Travouillon - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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hidden in plain sight reassessment of the pig footed bandicoot chaeropus ecaudatus Peramelemorphia chaeropodidae with a description of a new species from central australia and use of the fossil record to trace its past distribution
Zootaxa, 2019Co-Authors: Kenny J. Travouillon, Gilbert J. Price, Bruno F Simoes, Roberto Portela Miguez, Selina Brace, Philippa Brewer, David Stemmer, Jonathan Cramb, Julien LouysAbstract:The Pig-footed Bandicoot, Chaeropus ecaudatus, an extinct arid-adapted bandicoot, was named in 1838 based on a specimen without a tail from the Murray River in New South Wales. Two additional species were later named, C. castanotis and C. occidentalis, which have since been synonymised with C. ecaudatus. Taxonomic research on the genus is rather difficult because of the limited material available for study. Aside from the types of C. castanotis and C. occidentalis housed at the Natural History Museum in London, and the type of C. ecaudatus at the Australian Museum in Sydney, there are fewer than 30 other modern specimens in other collections scattered around the world. Examining skeletal and dental characters for several specimens, and using a combination of traditional morphology, morphometrics, palaeontology and molecular phylogenetics, we have identified two distinct species, C. ecaudatus and C. yirratji sp. nov., with C. ecaudatus having two distinct subspecies, C. e. ecaudatus and C. e. occidentalis. We use palaeontological data to reconstruct the pre-European distribution of the two species, and review the ecological information known about these extinct taxa.
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total evidence analysis of the phylogenetic relationships of bandicoots and bilbies marsupialia Peramelemorphia reassessment of two species and description of a new species
Zootaxa, 2018Co-Authors: Kenny J. Travouillon, Matthew J PhillipsAbstract:The phylogenetic relationships of bandicoots and bilbies have been somewhat problematic, with conflicting results between morphological work and molecular data. This conflict makes it difficult to assess the taxonomic status of species and subspecies within this order, and also prevents accurate evolutionary assessments. Here, we present a new total evidence analysis, combining the latest cranio-dental morphological matrix containing both modern and fossil taxa, with molecular data from GenBank. Several subspecies were scored in the morphological dataset to match the molecular data available. Both parsimony and Bayesian analyses were performed, giving similar topologies except for the position of four fossil taxa. Total evidence dating places the Peramelemorphian crown origin close to the Oligocene/Miocene boundary, and the radiations of most modern genera beginning in the Late Miocene or Early Pliocene. Our results show that some species and subspecies require taxonomic reassessment, and are revised here. We also describe a new, extinct species from the Nullarbor region. This suggests that the number of recently extinct Peramelemorphian species is likely to further increase.
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Functional and morphometric analysis of a middle Miocene bandicoot (Marsupialia, Peramelemorphia) skeleton from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Australia
2017Co-Authors: Karen H Black, Kenny J. Travouillon, Michael Archer, Suzanne J. Hand, Troy J. Myers, Laura A. B. Wilson, Joseph J. BevittAbstract:Peramelemorphia comprises four families: the extant Peramelidae (bandicoots), and Thylacomyidae (bilbies); the recently extinct Chaeropodidae (pig-footed bandicoot); and the extinct Yaralidae; with at least ten fossil species of uncertain familial affinity designated as Perameloidea incertae sedis. Extant taxa (18 species) are characteristically omnivorous, small to medium sized (0.1-4.9 kg) semi-fossorial/fossorial marsupials with a quadrupedal bounding gait. They occupy varied habitats from desert to rainforest in Australia and New Guinea. Fourteen pre-Pliocene taxa are currently described on the basis of cranial and/or dental material, yet none is known from its postcranial skeleton. Here we use qualitative morphological and morphometric data to analyse a partial skeleton of a new species of bandicoot from a middle Miocene cave deposit, AL90 Site, in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area. AL90 has been radiometrically dated at 14.7-15.1 Ma, however the species is abundant in numerous early to middle Miocene deposits at Riversleigh The AL90 specimen preserves the skull and dentaries, the fore-and hindlimbs, and elements of the manus, pes and axial skeleton. The species is estimated to have weighed approximately 300g (based on predictive marsupial craniodental regression equations) which is comparable among extant bandicoots to Perameles bougainville (Western barred bandicoot). Unlike modern species, the appendicular skeleton of the fossil taxon is less well-adapted for scratch-digging and fossorial behaviours. A striking contrast is the relatively elongate, gracile bones of the antebrachium of the fossil taxon compared with the generally short, robust forearm of modern bandicoots. Collectively, our data indicate a more generalized niche for this species than crown group Peramelemorphians and may support suggestions that archaic bandicoots filled an ecological niche later dominated by small dasyurids during the late Cainozoic.
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A review of the Pliocene bandicoots of Australia, and descriptions of new genus and species
2017Co-Authors: Kenny J. Travouillon, Michael Archer, Suzanne J. Hand, Julien Louys, Gilbert J. Price, Jeanette MuirheadAbstract:The Pliocene fossil record of Australia has revealed the oldest known occurrences of modern Peramelemorphian (bandicoot and bilbies) genera such as Perameles, cf. Peroryctes, and Chaeropus. Recent phylogenetic analyses based on morphology have questioned the previously accepted understanding about generic relationships of some of these Pliocene taxa. These doubts limit our ability to develop independent divergence models based on molecular data because they depend on fossil records in order to calibrate minimum rates of change. Hence, there is a need to critically review the Pliocene fossil record. To this end, we have examined Pliocene specimens of Peramelemorphians in museum collections across Australia and performed a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis based on dental and cranial morphology to review and accordingly revise subfamilial taxonomy. As part of this revision, we describe here two new species, one from the Chinchilla Local Fauna (LF) in Queensland (Perameles wilkinsonorum, sp. nov.) and one from both the Big Sink LF in the Wellington Caves area and the Bow LF in New South Wales (Silvicultor karae, gen. et sp. nov.). We reassign the two ‘Peroryctes’ species from Hamilton LF, Victoria, to a new genus (Silvicultor). We summarize the distribution of Peramelemorphians during the Pliocene and show how climate change appears to have shaped their subsequent Quaternary distribution. SUPPLEMENTAL DATA—Supplemental materials are available for this article for free at www.tandfonline.com/UJVP Citation for this article: Travouillon, K. J., J. Louys, G. J. Price, M. Archer, S. J. Hand, and J. Muirhead. 2017. A review of the Pliocene bandicoots of Australia, and descriptions of new genus and species. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2017.1360894.
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kutjamarcoot brevirostrum gen et sp nov a new short snouted early miocene bandicoot marsupialia Peramelemorphia from the kutjamarpu local fauna wipajiri formation in south australia
Alcheringa, 2016Co-Authors: P M Chamberlain, Kenny J. Travouillon, Michael Archer, Suzanne J. HandAbstract:Chamberlain, P.M., Travouillon, K.J., Archer, M. & Hand, S.J., November 2015. Kutjamarcoot brevirostrum gen. et sp. nov., a new short-snouted, early Miocene bandicoot (Marsupialia: Peramelemorphia) from the Kutjamarpu Local Fauna (Wipajiri Formation) in South Australia. Alcheringa 40, XX–XX. ISSN 0311-5518.A new bandicoot species, Kutjamarcoot brevirostrum gen. et sp. nov. (Peramelemorphia), is described here from the Leaf Locality, Kutjamarpu Local Fauna (LF), Wipajiri Formation (South Australia). The age of the fossil deposit is interpreted as early Miocene on the basis of biocorrelation between multiple species in the Kutjamarpu LF and local faunas from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area (WHA). Kutjamarcoot brevirostrum is represented by isolated teeth and three partial dentaries and appears to have been short-snouted with an estimated mass of 920 g. Phylogenetic analyses place K. brevirostrum in a clade with extant Australian bandicoots and the extinct Madju, but potentially exclude the extant New Gu...
Robin M D Beck - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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The Osteology and Systematics of the Enigmatic Australian Oligo-Miocene Metatherian Yalkaparidon (Yalkaparidontidae; Yalkaparidontia; ?Australidelphia; Marsupialia)
Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 2014Co-Authors: Robin M D Beck, Henk Godthelp, Ken P. Aplin, Kenny J. Travouillon, Michael ArcherAbstract:We provide the first detailed description of the osteology of the enigmatic Oligo-Miocene Australian metatherian Yalkaparidon . This taxon exhibits a number of unusual craniodental apomorphies but appears to be plesiomorphic within Metatheria in retaining four molars, rather than three as previously reported. We demonstrate that the only known skull of Yalkaparidon almost certainly represents a single individual. We also tentatively refer a number of isolated tarsals to the genus. Maximum parsimony analyses of a 258 character morphological matrix (with information from the tarsals described here either included or excluded) place Yalkaparidon within the superordinal clade Australidelphia, but Bayesian analyses of the same matrix are less well resolved, placing Yalkaparidon within Marsupialia but without unequivocally supporting australidelphian affinities. Bayesian analyses of a total evidence matrix that combines the morphological data with 9 kb of sequence data from five nuclear protein-coding genes (APOB, BRCA1, IRBP, RAG1 and VWF), 78 indels, and 53 retroposon insertion characters are similarly poorly resolved and do not clarify the supraordinal relationships of Yalkaparidon beyond suggesting that it is probably a member of Marsupialia. However, if the tarsal remains are correctly attributed to Yalkaparidon , then membership of Australidelphia seems likely, as these specimens exhibit characteristic australidelphian apomorphies. We conclude that the ordinal status of Yalkaparidon remains justified based on current evidence, and we present a revised diagnosis for Yalkaparidontia. We maintain the two currently recognized species, Y. coheni and Y. jonesi , but present revised specific diagnoses. We suggest a revised phylogenetic definition for Marsupialia, and provide phylogenetic definitions for Eomarsupialia (the clade comprising all extant Australian marsupial orders) and for the clade comprising Dasyuromorphia, Peramelemorphia, and Notoryctemorphia to the exclusion of Diprotodontia; we propose the name Agreodontia for the latter clade.
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The Osteology and Systematics of the Enigmatic Australian Oligo-Miocene Metatherian Yalkaparidon (Yalkaparidontidae; Yalkaparidontia; ?Australidelphia; Marsupialia)
Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 2014Co-Authors: Robin M D Beck, Henk Godthelp, Ken P. Aplin, Kenny J. Travouillon, Michael ArcherAbstract:We provide the first detailed description of the osteology of the enigmatic Oligo-Miocene Australian metatherian Yalkaparidon . This taxon exhibits a number of unusual craniodental apomorphies but appears to be plesiomorphic within Metatheria in retaining four molars, rather than three as previously reported. We demonstrate that the only known skull of Yalkaparidon almost certainly represents a single individual. We also tentatively refer a number of isolated tarsals to the genus. Maximum parsimony analyses of a 258 character morphological matrix (with information from the tarsals described here either included or excluded) place Yalkaparidon within the superordinal clade Australidelphia, but Bayesian analyses of the same matrix are less well resolved, placing Yalkaparidon within Marsupialia but without unequivocally supporting australidelphian affinities. Bayesian analyses of a total evidence matrix that combines the morphological data with 9 kb of sequence data from five nuclear protein-coding genes (APOB, BRCA1, IRBP, RAG1 and VWF), 78 indels, and 53 retroposon insertion characters are similarly poorly resolved and do not clarify the supraordinal relationships of Yalkaparidon beyond suggesting that it is probably a member of Marsupialia. However, if the tarsal remains are correctly attributed to Yalkaparidon , then membership of Australidelphia seems likely, as these specimens exhibit characteristic australidelphian apomorphies. We conclude that the ordinal status of Yalkaparidon remains justified based on current evidence, and we present a revised diagnosis for Yalkaparidontia. We maintain the two currently recognized species, Y. coheni and Y. jonesi , but present revised specific diagnoses. We suggest a revised phylogenetic definition for Marsupialia, and provide phylogenetic definitions for Eomarsupialia (the clade comprising all extant Australian marsupial orders) and for the clade comprising Dasyuromorphia, Peramelemorphia, and Notoryctemorphia to the exclusion of Diprotodontia; we propose the name Agreodontia for the latter clade.
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biogeographical implications of a new mouse sized fossil bandicoot marsupialia Peramelemorphia occupying a dasyurid like ecological niche across australia
Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 2014Co-Authors: Yamila Gurovich, Jeanette Muirhead, Robin M D Beck, Kenny J. Travouillon, Michael ArcherAbstract:We describe Bulungu palara gen. et sp. nov., a new fossil Peramelemorphian (bandicoot), based on a single well-preserved skull and additional dental specimens from Late Oligocene to Middle Miocene (Faunal Zones A–C) limestone deposits at the Riversleigh World Heritage Property, Queensland, and two dental specimens from the Early–Middle Miocene Kutjamarpu Local Fauna, South Australia. This is the first fossil Peramelemorphian species to be reported from more than a single fossil fauna, with its inferred distribution extending from north-western Queensland (modern latitude ∼19°S) to north-eastern South Australia (modern latitude ∼28°S). The presence of Bulungu palara in Riversleigh Faunal Zones A, B and C and in the Kutjamarpu Local Fauna supports the current interpretation that these faunas span similar ages, namely Late Oligocene–Middle Miocene. Phylogenetic analyses of an expanded 74 morphological character dataset using maximum parsimony and Bayesian approaches, both with and without a molecular scaffol...
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the oldest fossil record of bandicoots marsupialia Peramelemorphia from the late oligocene of australia
Palaeontologia Electronica, 2013Co-Authors: Kenny J. Travouillon, Robin M D Beck, Suzanne J. Hand, Michael ArcherAbstract:Two new late Oligocene representatives of the marsupial order Peramelemorphia (bandicoots and bilbies) from the Etadunna Formation of South Australia are described here. Bulungu muirheadae sp. nov., from Zone B (Ditjimanka Local Fauna [LF]), is represented by several dentaries and isolated upper and lower molars. Bulungu campbelli sp. nov., from Zone C (Ngapakaldi LF), is represented by a single dentary and maxilla. Together, they represent the oldest fossil bandicoots described to date. Both are small (estimated body mass of <250 grams) in comparison to most living bandicoot species and were probably insectivorous based on their dental morphology. They appear to be congeneric with Bulungu palara from Miocene local faunas of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area (WHA), Queensland and the Kutjamarpu LF (Wipajiri Formation) of South Australia. However, the Zone B Peramelemorphian appears to be more plesiomorphic than B. palara in its retention of complete centrocristae on all upper molars.
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The oldest fossil record of bandicoots (Marsupialia; Peramelemorphia) from the late Oligocene of Australia
Palaeontologia Electronica, 2013Co-Authors: Kenny J. Travouillon, Robin M D Beck, Suzanne J. Hand, Michael ArcherAbstract:Two new late Oligocene representatives of the marsupial order Peramelemorphia (bandicoots and bilbies) from the Etadunna Formation of South Australia are described here. Bulungu muirheadae sp. nov., from Zone B (Ditjimanka Local Fauna [LF]), is represented by several dentaries and isolated upper and lower molars. Bulungu campbelli sp. nov., from Zone C (Ngapakaldi LF), is represented by a single dentary and maxilla. Together, they represent the oldest fossil bandicoots described to date. Both are small (estimated body mass of
Jeanette Muirhead - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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A review of the Pliocene bandicoots of Australia, and descriptions of new genus and species
2017Co-Authors: Kenny J. Travouillon, Michael Archer, Suzanne J. Hand, Julien Louys, Gilbert J. Price, Jeanette MuirheadAbstract:The Pliocene fossil record of Australia has revealed the oldest known occurrences of modern Peramelemorphian (bandicoot and bilbies) genera such as Perameles, cf. Peroryctes, and Chaeropus. Recent phylogenetic analyses based on morphology have questioned the previously accepted understanding about generic relationships of some of these Pliocene taxa. These doubts limit our ability to develop independent divergence models based on molecular data because they depend on fossil records in order to calibrate minimum rates of change. Hence, there is a need to critically review the Pliocene fossil record. To this end, we have examined Pliocene specimens of Peramelemorphians in museum collections across Australia and performed a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis based on dental and cranial morphology to review and accordingly revise subfamilial taxonomy. As part of this revision, we describe here two new species, one from the Chinchilla Local Fauna (LF) in Queensland (Perameles wilkinsonorum, sp. nov.) and one from both the Big Sink LF in the Wellington Caves area and the Bow LF in New South Wales (Silvicultor karae, gen. et sp. nov.). We reassign the two ‘Peroryctes’ species from Hamilton LF, Victoria, to a new genus (Silvicultor). We summarize the distribution of Peramelemorphians during the Pliocene and show how climate change appears to have shaped their subsequent Quaternary distribution. SUPPLEMENTAL DATA—Supplemental materials are available for this article for free at www.tandfonline.com/UJVP Citation for this article: Travouillon, K. J., J. Louys, G. J. Price, M. Archer, S. J. Hand, and J. Muirhead. 2017. A review of the Pliocene bandicoots of Australia, and descriptions of new genus and species. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2017.1360894.
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Sexually Dimorphic Bandicoots (Marsupialia: Peramelemorphia) From the Oligo-Miocene of Australia, First Cranial Ontogeny for Fossil Bandicoots and New Species Descriptions
Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 2015Co-Authors: Kenny J. Travouillon, Michael Archer, Suzanne J. Hand, Jeanette MuirheadAbstract:Peramelemorphians (bandicoots and bilbies) are unique among mammals in having the shortest gestation period. Very little is known about their evolutionary history primarily because until recently their fossil record was scarce. Here we describe two new species, Madju variae, gen. et sp. nov., from late Oligocene to middle Miocene deposits from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Queensland, and the Kutjamarpu Local Fauna, South Australia, and Madju encorensis, gen. et sp. nov., also from Riversleigh WHA but from the late middle to early late Miocene. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that they are best regarded as basal members of the Superfamily Perameloidea. Species of Madju are unusual in showing a distinct reduction in size through time, possibly reflecting environmental change from the early to late Miocene. Madju variae is the first-known sexually dimorphic fossil Peramelemorphian. The preservation and representation of specimens of M. variae is exceptional, enabling documentation of ontogenetic development from juvenile to old adult stage suggesting that juveniles of M. variae developed more slowly than their modern counterparts and that lactation lasted for a longer time. If so, the short gestation of modern Peramelemorphians would appear to be a specialisation that might have evolved sometime after the middle Miocene.
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biogeographical implications of a new mouse sized fossil bandicoot marsupialia Peramelemorphia occupying a dasyurid like ecological niche across australia
Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 2014Co-Authors: Yamila Gurovich, Jeanette Muirhead, Robin M D Beck, Kenny J. Travouillon, Michael ArcherAbstract:We describe Bulungu palara gen. et sp. nov., a new fossil Peramelemorphian (bandicoot), based on a single well-preserved skull and additional dental specimens from Late Oligocene to Middle Miocene (Faunal Zones A–C) limestone deposits at the Riversleigh World Heritage Property, Queensland, and two dental specimens from the Early–Middle Miocene Kutjamarpu Local Fauna, South Australia. This is the first fossil Peramelemorphian species to be reported from more than a single fossil fauna, with its inferred distribution extending from north-western Queensland (modern latitude ∼19°S) to north-eastern South Australia (modern latitude ∼28°S). The presence of Bulungu palara in Riversleigh Faunal Zones A, B and C and in the Kutjamarpu Local Fauna supports the current interpretation that these faunas span similar ages, namely Late Oligocene–Middle Miocene. Phylogenetic analyses of an expanded 74 morphological character dataset using maximum parsimony and Bayesian approaches, both with and without a molecular scaffol...
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the genus galadi three new bandicoots marsupialia Peramelemorphia from riversleigh s miocene deposits northwestern queensland australia
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2013Co-Authors: Kenny J. Travouillon, Michael Archer, Suzanne J. Hand, Yamila Gurovich, Jeanette MuirheadAbstract:ABSTRACT We describe three new bandicoot species of the genus Galadi from the Miocene of Riversleigh World Heritage Area in northern Australia. The first species, which is represented by a complete dentary and several isolated upper molars, is restricted to Riversleigh's Faunal Zone B. It is the largest bandicoot as yet known from Riversleigh. The second species is represented by 19 specimens, including a partial skull and several maxillae and dentaries, from Riversleigh's Faunal Zone C. Several features distinguishing this species from the similarly sized type species G. speciosus are of interest, notably the presence of larger maxillopalatine fenestrae and additional maxillary fenestrae, incomplete centrocrista on all upper molars, a more complete posterior cingulum on upper molars, and higher degree of dental wear, which together suggest a more omnivorous diet. The third species is represented by a single maxillary, which exhibits a quite different combination of dental features compared with other Gal...
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an exceptionally well preserved short snouted bandicoot marsupialia Peramelemorphia from riversleigh s oligo miocene deposits northwestern queensland australia
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2010Co-Authors: Kenny J. Travouillon, Robin M D Beck, Yamila Gurovich, Jeanette MuirheadAbstract:ABSTRACT We describe Galadi speciosus, gen. et sp nov., the second Peramelemorphian (Yarala burchfieldi being the first) to be described from Oligo-Miocene deposits of Riversleigh World Heritage Property, northwestern Queensland. G. speciosus is represented by relatively complete craniodental material, including an exceptionally well-preserved skull. This taxon exhibits several apomorphies that clearly place it in the order Peramelemorphia, but it appears to be more plesiomorphic than any modern bandicoot. We present the first morphological phylogenetic analyses of Peramelemorphia, using 51 craniodental characters. Our analyses recover Yarala and Galadi speciosus outside crown group Peramelemorphia, with G. speciosus weakly supported as the sister taxon of the crown group. The craniodental morphology of G. speciosus, particularly its robust skull and proportionately short and broad snout, suggests that it filled a different ecological niche to extant bandicoots. We hypothesize that G. speciosus occupied a...
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Functional and morphometric analysis of a middle Miocene bandicoot (Marsupialia, Peramelemorphia) skeleton from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Australia
2017Co-Authors: Karen H Black, Kenny J. Travouillon, Michael Archer, Suzanne J. Hand, Troy J. Myers, Laura A. B. Wilson, Joseph J. BevittAbstract:Peramelemorphia comprises four families: the extant Peramelidae (bandicoots), and Thylacomyidae (bilbies); the recently extinct Chaeropodidae (pig-footed bandicoot); and the extinct Yaralidae; with at least ten fossil species of uncertain familial affinity designated as Perameloidea incertae sedis. Extant taxa (18 species) are characteristically omnivorous, small to medium sized (0.1-4.9 kg) semi-fossorial/fossorial marsupials with a quadrupedal bounding gait. They occupy varied habitats from desert to rainforest in Australia and New Guinea. Fourteen pre-Pliocene taxa are currently described on the basis of cranial and/or dental material, yet none is known from its postcranial skeleton. Here we use qualitative morphological and morphometric data to analyse a partial skeleton of a new species of bandicoot from a middle Miocene cave deposit, AL90 Site, in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area. AL90 has been radiometrically dated at 14.7-15.1 Ma, however the species is abundant in numerous early to middle Miocene deposits at Riversleigh The AL90 specimen preserves the skull and dentaries, the fore-and hindlimbs, and elements of the manus, pes and axial skeleton. The species is estimated to have weighed approximately 300g (based on predictive marsupial craniodental regression equations) which is comparable among extant bandicoots to Perameles bougainville (Western barred bandicoot). Unlike modern species, the appendicular skeleton of the fossil taxon is less well-adapted for scratch-digging and fossorial behaviours. A striking contrast is the relatively elongate, gracile bones of the antebrachium of the fossil taxon compared with the generally short, robust forearm of modern bandicoots. Collectively, our data indicate a more generalized niche for this species than crown group Peramelemorphians and may support suggestions that archaic bandicoots filled an ecological niche later dominated by small dasyurids during the late Cainozoic.
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A review of the Pliocene bandicoots of Australia, and descriptions of new genus and species
2017Co-Authors: Kenny J. Travouillon, Michael Archer, Suzanne J. Hand, Julien Louys, Gilbert J. Price, Jeanette MuirheadAbstract:The Pliocene fossil record of Australia has revealed the oldest known occurrences of modern Peramelemorphian (bandicoot and bilbies) genera such as Perameles, cf. Peroryctes, and Chaeropus. Recent phylogenetic analyses based on morphology have questioned the previously accepted understanding about generic relationships of some of these Pliocene taxa. These doubts limit our ability to develop independent divergence models based on molecular data because they depend on fossil records in order to calibrate minimum rates of change. Hence, there is a need to critically review the Pliocene fossil record. To this end, we have examined Pliocene specimens of Peramelemorphians in museum collections across Australia and performed a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis based on dental and cranial morphology to review and accordingly revise subfamilial taxonomy. As part of this revision, we describe here two new species, one from the Chinchilla Local Fauna (LF) in Queensland (Perameles wilkinsonorum, sp. nov.) and one from both the Big Sink LF in the Wellington Caves area and the Bow LF in New South Wales (Silvicultor karae, gen. et sp. nov.). We reassign the two ‘Peroryctes’ species from Hamilton LF, Victoria, to a new genus (Silvicultor). We summarize the distribution of Peramelemorphians during the Pliocene and show how climate change appears to have shaped their subsequent Quaternary distribution. SUPPLEMENTAL DATA—Supplemental materials are available for this article for free at www.tandfonline.com/UJVP Citation for this article: Travouillon, K. J., J. Louys, G. J. Price, M. Archer, S. J. Hand, and J. Muirhead. 2017. A review of the Pliocene bandicoots of Australia, and descriptions of new genus and species. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2017.1360894.
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kutjamarcoot brevirostrum gen et sp nov a new short snouted early miocene bandicoot marsupialia Peramelemorphia from the kutjamarpu local fauna wipajiri formation in south australia
Alcheringa, 2016Co-Authors: P M Chamberlain, Kenny J. Travouillon, Michael Archer, Suzanne J. HandAbstract:Chamberlain, P.M., Travouillon, K.J., Archer, M. & Hand, S.J., November 2015. Kutjamarcoot brevirostrum gen. et sp. nov., a new short-snouted, early Miocene bandicoot (Marsupialia: Peramelemorphia) from the Kutjamarpu Local Fauna (Wipajiri Formation) in South Australia. Alcheringa 40, XX–XX. ISSN 0311-5518.A new bandicoot species, Kutjamarcoot brevirostrum gen. et sp. nov. (Peramelemorphia), is described here from the Leaf Locality, Kutjamarpu Local Fauna (LF), Wipajiri Formation (South Australia). The age of the fossil deposit is interpreted as early Miocene on the basis of biocorrelation between multiple species in the Kutjamarpu LF and local faunas from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area (WHA). Kutjamarcoot brevirostrum is represented by isolated teeth and three partial dentaries and appears to have been short-snouted with an estimated mass of 920 g. Phylogenetic analyses place K. brevirostrum in a clade with extant Australian bandicoots and the extinct Madju, but potentially exclude the extant New Gu...
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Sexually Dimorphic Bandicoots (Marsupialia: Peramelemorphia) From the Oligo-Miocene of Australia, First Cranial Ontogeny for Fossil Bandicoots and New Species Descriptions
Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 2015Co-Authors: Kenny J. Travouillon, Michael Archer, Suzanne J. Hand, Jeanette MuirheadAbstract:Peramelemorphians (bandicoots and bilbies) are unique among mammals in having the shortest gestation period. Very little is known about their evolutionary history primarily because until recently their fossil record was scarce. Here we describe two new species, Madju variae, gen. et sp. nov., from late Oligocene to middle Miocene deposits from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Queensland, and the Kutjamarpu Local Fauna, South Australia, and Madju encorensis, gen. et sp. nov., also from Riversleigh WHA but from the late middle to early late Miocene. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that they are best regarded as basal members of the Superfamily Perameloidea. Species of Madju are unusual in showing a distinct reduction in size through time, possibly reflecting environmental change from the early to late Miocene. Madju variae is the first-known sexually dimorphic fossil Peramelemorphian. The preservation and representation of specimens of M. variae is exceptional, enabling documentation of ontogenetic development from juvenile to old adult stage suggesting that juveniles of M. variae developed more slowly than their modern counterparts and that lactation lasted for a longer time. If so, the short gestation of modern Peramelemorphians would appear to be a specialisation that might have evolved sometime after the middle Miocene.
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the oldest fossil record of bandicoots marsupialia Peramelemorphia from the late oligocene of australia
Palaeontologia Electronica, 2013Co-Authors: Kenny J. Travouillon, Robin M D Beck, Suzanne J. Hand, Michael ArcherAbstract:Two new late Oligocene representatives of the marsupial order Peramelemorphia (bandicoots and bilbies) from the Etadunna Formation of South Australia are described here. Bulungu muirheadae sp. nov., from Zone B (Ditjimanka Local Fauna [LF]), is represented by several dentaries and isolated upper and lower molars. Bulungu campbelli sp. nov., from Zone C (Ngapakaldi LF), is represented by a single dentary and maxilla. Together, they represent the oldest fossil bandicoots described to date. Both are small (estimated body mass of <250 grams) in comparison to most living bandicoot species and were probably insectivorous based on their dental morphology. They appear to be congeneric with Bulungu palara from Miocene local faunas of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area (WHA), Queensland and the Kutjamarpu LF (Wipajiri Formation) of South Australia. However, the Zone B Peramelemorphian appears to be more plesiomorphic than B. palara in its retention of complete centrocristae on all upper molars.
