The order Peramelemorphia includes the bandicoots and bilbies. All members of the order are endemic to 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.
Thylacinidae is an extinct family of carnivorous marsupials from the order Dasyuromorphia. The only species to survive into modern times was the thylacine, which became extinct in 1936.
Thylacinus is a genus of extinct carnivorous marsupials in the family Thylacinidae. The only recent member was the thylacine, commonly also known as the Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf. The last known Tasmanian tiger was in the Beaumaris Zoo in Tasmania, eventually dying in 1936. The earliest known member of the genus, Thylacinus macknessi appeared during the Early Miocene, around 16 million years ago, and was smaller than the modern thylacine, with a body mass of about 6.7–9.0 kilograms (14.8–19.8 lb). Thylacinus represented the only extant genus of the family after the beginning of the Pliocene around 5 million years ago. Over time members of the genus saw an increase in body mass and a greater adaption to hypercarnivory in their dental morphology.
Badjcinus is an extinct thylacinid marsupial. It is the earliest and most primitive known thylacinid, living 23 to 28 million years ago in the late Oligocene.
Wakaleo is an extinct genus of medium-sized thylacoleonids that lived in Australia in the Late Oligocene and Miocene Epochs.
Yarala is a genus of fossil mammals that resemble contemporary bandicoots. The superfamily Yaraloidea and family Yaralidae were created following the discovery of the type species Yarala burchfieldi in 1995, on the basis that it lacks synapomorphies that unite all other peramelemorphian taxa.
The genus Nimbacinus contains two species of carnivorous, quadrupedal marsupials in Australia both of which are extinct:
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.
Thylacinus macknessi lived during the early Miocene and is the oldest known member of the genus Thylacinus. It is named after Brian Mackness, a supporter of Australian vertebrate paleontology.
Thylacinus megiriani lived during the late Miocene, 8 million years ago; the area T. megiriani inhabited in the Northern Territory was covered in forest with a permanent supply of water.
Maximucinus is an extinct genus of thylacinid that lived during the Middle Miocene in what is now Queensland, Australia. It is known only a second upper molar found at the Riversleigh World Heritage Area. It was the largest thylacinid of its time, attaining a body size of 18 kg. The genus is monotypic, containing only one species, Maximucinus muirheadae.
Muribacinus is an extinct genus of thylacinid that lived during the middle Miocene in what is now northwestern Queensland, Australia. It was described in 1995 from remains collected at the Riversleigh World Heritage Area. Only one species is known, M. gadiyuli.
Mutpuracinus archibaldi is an extinct carnivorous, quadrupedal marsupial that lived during the middle Miocene and is the smallest known thylacinid at approximately 1.1 kilograms, the size of a quoll, though, more closely related to the recently extinct thylacine.
Ngamalacinus is an extinct genus of thylacinid marsupial that lived during the late Oligocene and early Miocene of Australia. Fossils have been found in Riversleigh.
Tyarrpecinus is an extinct genus of thylacinid that lived during the late Miocene in what is now the Northern Territory, Australia. It is known only from a partial skull bone that was reconstructed from numerous fragments. It was a small thylacinid and represents a late surviving relict. The genus is monotypic, containing only one species, Tyarrpecinus rothi.
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.
Propalorchestes is a fossil genus of palorchestid marsupial that existed in Australia during the Miocene epoch.
Lekaneleo is a fossil genus 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.
Thylacinus yorkellus is a fossil species of carnivorous marsupial, a sister species of the recently extinct Thylacinus cynocephalus, the Tasmanian tiger, both of which existed on mainland Australia.
William D. Turnbull (1922-2011) was an American paleontologist associated with the Chicago Field Museum. He published over 100 papers on mammals, continuing after his retirement as the museum's curator of mammals. He searched in Australia for evidence of recently extinct species, and made frequent expeditions to sites at the Washakie Formation in southwest Wyoming. His studies are considered significant contributions to the paleontology and biogeography of dinosaurs and Eocene mammals.
