Phascolonus

Phascolonus was a genus of prehistoric Australian marsupials in the wombat family. The largest species, Phascolonus gigas, weighed as much as 200 kg (450 lb).[2] Phascolonus existed alongside an even larger marsupial, Diprotodon, which weighed as much as three tons and was distantly related to wombats.[3] Both disappeared at the end of the Late Pleistocene in a Quaternary extinction event together with many other large Australian animals.

The digital restoration of Phascolonus

Phascolonus
Phascolonus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Vombatidae
Genus: †Phascolonus
Owen, 1872
Species
  • P. gigas (Owen, 1859)
  • P. lemleyi (Archer & Wade, 1976)[1]

At Tea Tree Cave, a two-million-year-old Phascolonus fossil was found alongside that of the crocodilian Quinkana.[4]

References
  1. "Mikko's Phylogeny Archive". Archived from the original on 2007-06-11. Retrieved 2007-09-30.
  2. Long, J.; Archer, M.; Flannery, T.; Hand, S. (2002). Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea: One Hundred Million Years of Evolution. University of New South Wales Press. pp. 161–162. ISBN 978-0-8018-7223-5. OCLC 49860159.
  3. Archived 2007-10-13 at the Wayback Machine Museum Victoria [ed-online] Dinosaurs & Fossils - The rise of the modern fauna and flora
  4. Chillagoe Interpretive Centre


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