The order Peramelemorphia includes the bandicoots and bilbies; it equates approximately to the mainstream of marsupial omnivores. All members of the order are endemic to the twin land masses of Australia-New Guinea and most have the characteristic bandicoot shape: a plump, arch-backed body with a long, delicately tapering snout, very large upright ears, relatively long, thin legs, and a thin tail. Their size varies from about 140 grams up to 4 kilograms, but most species are about one kilogram, or the weight of a half-grown kitten.
The Ornithorhynchidae are one of the two extant families in the order Monotremata, and contain the platypus and its extinct relatives. The other family is the Tachyglossidae, or echidnas. Within the Ornithorhynchidae are the genera Monotrematum, Obdurodon, and Ornithorhynchus:
Teinolophos is a prehistoric species of monotreme, or egg-laying mammal. It is known from four specimens, each consisting of a partial lower jawbone collected from the Wonthaggi Formation at Flat Rocks, Victoria, Australia. It lived during the Aptian age of the Lower Cretaceous.
Chaeropus, known as the pig-footed bandicoots, is a genus of small mammals that became extinct during the twentieth century. They were unique marsupials, of the order Peramelemorphia, with unusually thin legs yet were able to move rapidly. Two recognised species inhabited dense vegetation on the arid and semi-arid plains of Australia. The genus' distribution range was later reduced to an inland desert region, where it was last recorded in the 1950s; it is now presumed extinct.
The musky rat-kangaroo is a small marsupial found only in the rainforests of northeastern Australia. First described in the later 19th century, the only other species are known from fossil specimens. They are similar in appearance to potoroos and bettongs, but are not as closely related. Their omnivorous diet is known to include materials such as fruit and fungi, as well as small animals such as insects and other invertebrates. The local Aboriginal name for the species is durrgim yuri.
Dromornis is a genus of large to enormous prehistoric birds. The species were flightless, possessing greatly reduced wing structures but with large legs, similar to the modern ostrich or emu. They were likely to have been predominately, if not exclusively, herbivorous browsers. The male of the largest species, Dromornis stirtoni, is a contender for the tallest and heaviest bird, and possibly exhibited aggressive territorial behaviour.
The long-nosed potoroo is a species of potoroo. These small marsupials are part of the rat-kangaroo family. The long-nosed potoroo contains two subspecies, P. t. tridactylus from Mainland Australia, and P. t. apicalis from Tasmania, which tends to have lighter fur than P. t. tridactylus. At first glance, the long-nosed potoroo with its pointed nose and grey-brown fur looks very much like a bandicoot — that is, until it hops away with its front feet tucked into its chest, revealing its close relationship with the kangaroo family. The long-nosed potoroo exhibits many morphological specializations such as an elongated pointed rostral region (nose), erect ears, large eyes, claws for digging, and long robust hind legs. It is only a small marsupial, with a body length between 34 and 38 cm (13–15 in), and a semi-prehensile tail length of 15 to 24 cm (5.9–9.4 in).
Gould's long-eared bat is a microbat found in southern regions of Australia. It occurs in eastern Australia, from Queensland to Victoria, and in a smaller isolated range in the south-west of Western Australia.
Mammalodon is an extinct genus of archaic baleen whale belonging to the family Mammalodontidae.
The northern or sandy nail-tail wallaby is a species of macropod found across northern Australia on arid and sparsely wooded plains. The largest species of the genus Onychogalea, it is a solitary and nocturnal herbivorous browser that selects its food from a wide variety of grasses and succulent plant material. Distinguished by a slender and long-limbed form that resembles the typical and well known kangaroos, although their standing height is shorter, around half of one metre, and their weight is less than nine kilograms. As with some medium to large kangaroo species, such as Osphranter rufus, they have an unusual pentapedal motion at slow speeds by stiffening the tail for a fifth limb. When fleeing a disturbance, they hop rapidly with the tail curled back and repeatedly utter the sound "wuluhwuluh". Their exceptionally long tail has a broad fingernail-like protuberance beneath a dark crest of hair at its end, a peculiarity of the genus that is much broader than the other species. The name unguifera, meaning claw, is a reference to this extraordinary attribute, the purpose of which is unknown.
The large forest bat is a vespertilionid bat found in southeast Australia, Tasmania, and Lord Howe Island. They are classified as common.
The crest-tailed mulgara, is a small to medium-sized Australian carnivorous marsupial and a member of the family Dasyuridae which includes quolls, dunnarts, the numbat, Tasmanian devil and extinct thylacine. The crest-tailed mulgara is among a group of native predatory mammals or mesopredators endemic to arid Australia.
Neohelos is an extinct diprotodontid marsupial, that lived from the early to middle-Miocene. There are four species assigned to this genus, Neohelos tirarensis, the type species, N. stirtoni, N. solus and N. davidridei. N. davidridei is the most derived species of the genus, and its premolar morphology shows that it is structurally and ancestor of the genus Kolopsis. All four species are from the Bullock Creek in the Northern Territory and Riversleigh of Australia.
Glaucodon is an extinct genus of marsupial from Australia.
Raemeotherium is an extinct genus of diprotodont marsupial from the late Oligocene Namba Formation of South Australia. It was much smaller than other diprotodonts, approximately the size of a lamb, and comparatively gracile. It is usually placed within the Zygomaturinae, but because the upper third premolar is unknown doubt remains about its affinities.
Monotremes are prototherian mammals of the order Monotremata. They are one of the three main groups of living mammals, along with placentals (Eutheria) and marsupials (Metatheria). Monotremes are typified by structural differences in their brains, jaws, digestive tract, reproductive tract, and other body parts compared to the more common mammalian types. In addition, they lay eggs rather than bearing live young, but, like all mammals, the female monotremes nurse their young with milk.
Ausktribosphenos is an extinct genus of mammals from Early Cretaceous of Australia. The only recorded species, Ausktribosphenos nyktos, was found on Flat Rocks, Victoria.
Yinotheria is a proposed basal subclass clade of crown mammals uniting the Shuotheriidae, an extinct group of mammals from the Jurassic of Eurasia, with Australosphenida, a group of mammals known from the Jurassic to present of Gondwana, including living monotremes. Today, there are only five surviving species of monotremes which live in Australia and New Guinea, consisting of the platypus and four species of echidna. Fossils of yinotheres have been found in England, China, Russia, Madagascar and Argentina. Contrary to other known crown mammals, they retained postdentary bones as shown by the presence of a postdentary trough. The extant members (monotremes) developed the mammalian middle ear independently.
Diluvicursor is a genus of small ornithischian from the Lower Albian of Australia. It is known from one species, the type species D. pickeringi. The two known specimens, a vertebra and a partial juvenile postcranium discovered in 2005 from the Eumeralla Formation, are known, and they were named in early 2018.
Ozimops halli, also referred to as the Cape York free-tailed bat, is a species of molossid bat found at the Cape York Peninsula in Australia.
