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An investigation of phylogeny in the giant extinct rat kangaroo Ekaltadeta (Propleopinae, Potoroidae, Marsupialia)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Stephen Wroe*
Affiliation:
School of Biological Science, University of New South Wales, N.S.W. 2052 Australia

Abstract

The Giant Rat Kangaroos (Ekaltadeta, Propleopus) were placed in a new subfamily the Propleopinae by Archer and Flannery (1985). The discovery of new Ekaltadeta material from Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland has stimulated a review of propleopine phylogeny. Cladistic analysis of five propleopine taxa suggests possible paraphyly for Ekaltadeta and polyphyly for Propleopus. A new species of Miocene propleopine, Ekaltadeta jamiemulvaneyi n. sp., from system C local faunas at Riversleigh, is described.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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