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.
Bandicoots are a group of more than 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial, largely nocturnal marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia. They are endemic to the Australia–New Guinea region, including the Bismarck Archipelago to the east and Seram and Halmahera to the west.
Thylacinidae is an extinct family of carnivorous, superficially dog-like marsupials from the order Dasyuromorphia. The only species to survive into modern times was the thylacine, which became extinct in 1936.
Yalkaparidon is an extinct genus of Australian marsupials, first described in 1988 and known only from the Oligo-Miocene deposits of Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland, Australia.
Palorchestes is an extinct genus of terrestrial, herbivorous marsupials of the family Palorchestidae. The genus was endemic to Australia, living from the Miocene through to the Pleistocene epochs.
Nambaroo is an extinct genus of macropod marsupial from the late Oligocene to the early Miocene of Australia.
Litokoala is an extinct genus of marsupials, and along with Nimiokoala, is closely related to the modern koala. The three genera may have diverged at an earlier date, although the drying of the continent and the expansion of Eucalyptus forests towards the late Miocene may have delayed the evolution of cranial features unique to the modern genera. This indicates that either fossil genus could be an ancestor of the modern genus, or the modern genus has a common ancestor to both. More material needs collection to improve their taxonomical relationships.
Galadi is an extinct genus of predatory bandicoot from Oligo-Miocene deposits of Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland, Australia. It was first named by K.J. Travouillon, Y. Gurovich, R.M.D. Beck and J. Muirhead in 2010 and the type species is Galadi speciosus; additional three species, G. adversus, G. amplus and G. grandis, were described in 2013. The genus is represented by three well-preserved skulls and several isolated maxillae and dentaries. Its body mass would have been close to two pounds, making it relatively large for its family. The combination of body size, robustness and short, stout skull indicates that Galadi would have been able to take relatively large prey for its size, though the morphology of its molars indicates it may have been omnivorous.
The Macropodidae are an extant family of marsupial with the distinction of the ability to move bipedally on the hind legs, sometimes by jumping, as well as quadrupedally. They are herbivores, but some fossil genera like Ekaltadeta are hypothesised to have been carnivores. The taxonomic affiliations within the family and with other groups of marsupials is still in flux.
Priscakoala is an extinct genus of koala from the Early Miocene of Riversleigh, Australia. It has one species: Priscakoala lucyturnbullae.
Bulungu is an extinct genus of bandicoot-like mammal from Oligo-Miocene deposits of Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland, and the Etadunna Formation, Australia. It was first named by Gurovich et al. (2013) and the type species is Bulungu palara. Two additional species, Bulungu campbelli adnd Bulungu minkinaensis, were also described in 2013. Bulungu muirheadae is the oldest fossil bandicoot recovered to date. An additional three species Bulungu minkinaensis, Bulungu pinpaensis, and Bulungu westermani were named by Travouillon, Beck & Case (2021) allowing for placement of the genus in the superfamily Yaraloidea.
Cookeroo is a genus of extinct kangaroos from the Late Oligocene and Early Miocene found in fossil deposits from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, in Australia. The genus includes two species, C. bulwidarri and C. hortusensis.
Ganawamaya is an extinct genus of quadrupedal kangaroos that lived in Australia.
Hypsiprymnodon karenblackae is a fossil species describing a small marsupial extant in Australia during the Early to Middle Miocene Epoch. The material was collected at the Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh). The taxon was published in 2014, along with several other new species of the genus Hypsiprymnodon, known as musky rat-kangaroos. The morphology of the teeth suggest it existed in a wet rainforest environment, similar to the ecological conditions of the extant species, the musky rat-kangaroo. The type specimen was collected at the Camel Sputum site, classified as a Faunal Zone B (Miocene) deposit at Riversleigh in northwestern Queensland, The epithet is for Dr. Karen Black's contribution to palaeontology in Australia, especially the Riversleigh fossils.
Crash bandicoot is an extinct bandicoot, known from fossils located at the Riversleigh World Heritage Area in northeast Australia.
Liyamayi dayi is a mammal species of the Thylacomyidae family known from fossils located at the Riversleigh World Heritage Area in northeast Australia. The discovery of the specimens was identified as deposited around fifteen million years ago, revising the earliest record of this peramelemorphian lineage from those of species that existed around ten million years later.
Propalorchestes is a fossil genus of Diprotodontidae, mammals that existed in Australia.
Karen H. Black, born about 1970, is a palaeontologist at the University of New South Wales. Black is the leading author on research describing new families, genera and species of fossil mammals. She is interested in understanding faunal change and community structure in order to gain new understandings of past, current and future changes in biodiversity which are driven by climate.
Lekaneleo roskellyae is a fossil species of carnivorous marsupial that existed during the early Miocene in Australia. Once allied to the type species of the genus Priscileo, later placed as Wakaleo pitikantensis, "Priscileo" roskellyae was subsequently transferred to its own genus Lekaneleo.
Whollydooleya tomnpatrichorum is a fossil species discovered just beyond the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, an early example of adaptations to hypercarnivory. The dating of the deposit, while uncertain, is associated with material assigned to the genus Ekaltadeta, placing its occurrence in the middle or late Miocene epoch.
