Maokopia

Maokopia
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: †Diprotodontidae
Subfamily: †Zygomaturinae
Genus: †Maokopia
Flannery, 1992
Species:
†M. ronaldi
Binomial name
†Maokopia ronaldi
Flannery, 1992

Maokopia is an extinct genus of Zygomaturinae from the Late Pleistocene of Irian Jaya, New Guinea. It is known from a partial skull and was a comparatively small species of diprotodontid, weighing 100 kg. Murray (1992) suggested that it was most closely related to Hulitherium. The teeth indicate a diet of hard ferns and grasses that still grow in the alpine meadows of the area (Long et al., 2002).

References

  1. ↑ MacPhee, R. D. E. (1999-06-30). Extinctions in Near Time. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9780306460920.