A new ‘bone-cracking’ dasyurid (marsupialia), from the Miocene of Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland

Abstract

Ganbulanyi djadjinguli gen. et sp. nov. is described on the basis of an upper molar and premolar from an early-late Miocene site in Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland. The paucity of material constrains certainty in the determination of it's phylogenetic position. But, among dasyuromorphians, and dependent on the interpretation of tooth homology, this species shows unequivocal synapomorphies only with the derived dasyurine Sarcophilus, and/or Barinya wangala, a possible sister taxon to the modern dasyurid radiation (i.e., Sminthopsinae, Phascogalinae, Dasyurinae). Other apomorphies, evident in G. djadjinguli, are common to both carnivorous thylacinids and dasyurids within the order. Some dental features of Ganbulanyi djadjinguli are treated as adaptations to a ‘bone cracking’ habitus. If this interpretation is correct, then this species represents the only pre-Pliocene Australian taxon known to occupy such a niche and perhaps the smallest specialist ‘bone-cracker’ within Mammalia.