Biogeographical implications of a new mouse-sized fossil bandicoot (Marsupialia: Peramelemorphia) occupying a dasyurid-like ecological niche across Australia

Abstract

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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

“…This order contains four families: Chaeropodidae, which contains the recently extinct Pig-footed Bandicoot (Chaeropus ecaudatus); Thylacomyidae, containing four species of bilby (two species of Macrotis, the fossil species Ischnodon australis from Pliocene deposits of central Australia, and the middle Miocene Liyamayi dayi); Peramelidae, subdivided into three subfamilies, Peramelinae (mostly living species in the genera Perameles and Isoodon and the Miocene Crash bandicoot), Echymiperinae (containing mostly living New Guinean taxa in the genera Echymipera, Microperoryctes, and Rhynchomeles), and Peroryctinae (containing the living New Guinean genus Peroryctes); and Yaralidae, a family of small insectivorous Miocene bandicoots in the genus Yarala. Species of Galadi from Miocene deposits of Riversleigh WHA (Travouillon et al 2010(Travouillon et al , 2013a, Bulungu from Oligocene and Miocene deposits from the Etadunna Formation (South Australia) and Riversleigh WHA (Gurovich et al 2013;Travouillon et al 2013b), and cf. Peroryctes from Pliocene Hamilton Local Fauna (LF), Victoria (Turnbull et al 2003) appear to represent basal peramelemorphians that are closer to crown group Peramelemorphia (Peramelidae + Thylacomyidae + Chaeropodidae) than Yaralidae (Gurovich et al 2013;Travouillon et al 2013a,b).…”

“…Species of Galadi from Miocene deposits of Riversleigh WHA (Travouillon et al 2010(Travouillon et al , 2013a, Bulungu from Oligocene and Miocene deposits from the Etadunna Formation (South Australia) and Riversleigh WHA (Gurovich et al 2013;Travouillon et al 2013b), and cf. Peroryctes from Pliocene Hamilton Local Fauna (LF), Victoria (Turnbull et al 2003) appear to represent basal peramelemorphians that are closer to crown group Peramelemorphia (Peramelidae + Thylacomyidae + Chaeropodidae) than Yaralidae (Gurovich et al 2013;Travouillon et al 2013a,b).…”

“…Recent advances in our understanding of the evolution of peramelemorphians (bandicoots and bilbies), an order of marsupials from Sahul (Australia, New Guinea and neighbouring islands), has been principally due to molecular systematics (e.g., Westerman et al 1999Westerman et al , 2001Westerman et al , 2012Westerman and Krajewski 2000;Meredith et al 2008) and the discovery of near-complete fossil specimens from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area (WHA) of northwestern Queensland (Muirhead 2000;Travouillon et al 2010Travouillon et al , 2013aGurovich et al 2013). This order contains four families: Chaeropodidae, which contains the recently extinct Pig-footed Bandicoot (Chaeropus ecaudatus); Thylacomyidae, containing four species of bilby (two species of Macrotis, the fossil species Ischnodon australis from Pliocene deposits of central Australia, and the middle Miocene Liyamayi dayi); Peramelidae, subdivided into three subfamilies, Peramelinae (mostly living species in the genera Perameles and Isoodon and the Miocene Crash bandicoot), Echymiperinae (containing mostly living New Guinean taxa in the genera Echymipera, Microperoryctes, and Rhynchomeles), and Peroryctinae (containing the living New Guinean genus Peroryctes); and Yaralidae, a family of small insectivorous Miocene bandicoots in the genus Yarala.…”

A revised faunal list and geological setting for Bullock Creek, a Camfieldian site from the Northern Territory of Australia

“…Notably, however, Kangaroo Well is missing dasyuromorphians. Similarities in ecological niche between the yaraloid peramelemorphians and dasyuromorphians have been noted elsewhere (Gurovich et al, 2014;Muirhead, 2000) and it is possible that what can be seen at Bullock Creek is the beginnings of the competitive replacement of yaraloids by dasyuromorphians.…”

“…This makes the identifications of those teeth above as yaraloid bandicoot, on the basis of their similarities to Yarala kida from Kangaroo Well (Schwartz, 2006a) and Y. burchfieldi from Riversleigh (Muirhead and Filan, 1995), less certain than the identification that is based on the upper molar. Gurovich et al (2014) Determination. P87110-36, which is a left P3, is nearly identical to that described for Wyulda asherjoeli Crosby, Nagy and Archer 2001 from the Mike's Menagerie site at Riversleigh.…”