Borungaboodie

Borungaboodie
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Potoroidae
Genus: †Borungaboodie
Prideaux, 1999
Species:
†B. hatcheri
Binomial name
†Borungaboodie hatcheri
Prideaux, 1999[1]

Borungaboodie is an extinct genus of potoroo that lived in Southwest Australia during the Pleistocene. The genus is represented by a single species known as Borungaboodie hatcheri, or more informally, the giant potoroo.[2]

Discovery and naming

Remains of Borungaboodie were found in Tight Entrance Cave in southwestern Australia. While the cave was explored since the 1970s, it wasn't until 1991 that Lindsay Hatcher and his team at the Western Australian Speleological Group (WASG) discovered that the cave contains fossils of extinct species. The first fossils of Borungaboodie were subsequently discovered in 1996.[3]

The name Borungaboodie is derived from the Nyoongar borunga, meaning "very big", and boodie the word for the living bettong. The specific name honors Hatcher.

Description

Borungaboodie was significantly larger than any living potoroo, reaching a size comparable to that of a koala. Its lower jaw measured 30 percent greater than the living rufous bettong, and it was estimated to weigh almost 10 kg (22 lb).[4] It also had very robust teeth and jaws. The impressive dentary features suggest that Borungaboodie was capable of generating a much higher bite force than its smaller relatives, and large size also suggests a possibly more omnivorous diet.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Borungaboodie". Fossilworks.
  2. ^ McNamara, Ken; Murrray, Peter (2010). Prehistoric Mammals of Western Australia. Western Australian Museum. pp. 86–87. ISBN 9781920843601.
  3. ^ a b Prideaux, Gavin J. (1999). "Borungaboodie hatcheri gen. et sp. nov., a very large bettong (Marsupialia: Macropodoidea) from the Pleistocene of southwestern Australia". Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement. 57: 317–329.
  4. ^ Long, John A. (2002). Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea: One Hundred Million Years of Evolution. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 174. ISBN 9780801872235.