- Palorchestes
Taxobox
name = "Palorchestes"
fossil_range =Miocene toPleistocene
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Chordata
classis =Mammalia
infraclassis =Marsupial a
subordo =Diprotodontia
familia =Palorchestidae
genus = "Palorchestes"
species = "P. painei""P. azael"
binomial = "Palorchestes azael""Palorchestes azael" ("ancient leaper") is an extinct species of
marsupial .It was a 2'50 m (8 ft 4 in) long creature that resembled a
tapir , possessing a shortproboscis (based on the appearance of its nasal bones). "Palorchestes" front legs bore largeclaw s, probably used to pull down leaves."Palorchestes azael" was a marsupial species that appeared during the
Miocene , and went extinct about 40,000 years ago. This creature has been called the "marsupial tapir" because of its long nose. However, "Palorchestes" was not a tapir. The similarity in nose shape is an example ofconvergent evolution ."Palorchestes azael" was almost as large as a
horse . It had claws like those ofkoalas . The tongue of "Palorchestes azael" was long and ribbon-like. It walked on four powerful legs. This creature was anherbivore . It is thought to have fed in these ways: pulling up bushes and eating the rootsstripping the bark fromtrees and eating the soft inner part of the trunk.Fossilized remains of "Palorchestes azael" have been found at the Naracoorte Caves fossil site in
Australia .The generic name was coined by Sir
Richard Owen , who first found what he thought was the fragmentary jaw of a prehistoric kangaroo. It was not until more postcranial elements were found did anyone realize that "Palorchestes" was actually a diprodontid, and not a kangaroo. [Long, J., Archer, M., Flannery, T., and Hand, S. J. (2002) Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea: One Hundred Million Years of Evolution. Kensington: University of New South Wales. (pg 100)]References
*Barry Cox, Colin Harrison, R.J.G. Savage, and Brian Gardiner. (1999): The Simon & Schuster Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Creatures: A Visual Who's Who of Prehistoric Life.
Simon & Schuster .External links
*http://www.pacificislandbooks.com/kadil~1.jpgimage
*http://www.amonline.net.au/collections/images/palaeontology/palorchestes.jpg image
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