Nombe nombe (Flannery, Mountain & Aplin, 1983)

Kerr, Isaac A. R., Camens, Aaron B., Van Zoelen, Jacob D., Worthy, Trevor H. & Prideaux, Gavin J., 2024, Systematics and palaeobiology of kangaroos of the late Cenozoic genus Protemnodon (Marsupialia, Macropodidae), Megataxa 11 (1), pp. 1-261 : 191

Nombe nombe

Protemnodon nombe Flannery, Mountain & Aplin 1983 : Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 107(2), p. 91.

Nombe nombe ( Flannery, Mountain &Aplin 1983) ; Kerr & Prideaux 2022, Trans. Roy. Soc. S.A. 146(2), pp. 295–318.

Nombe nombe ( Flannery et al., 1983) possesses various characteristics of the dentary and the lower molars that show it does not belong in the genus Protemnodon (see Kerr & Prideaux 2022). The m3 and m 4 in the holotype and the referred specimen, which are the least worn molars, possess a distinct postprotocristid and a strongly developed premetacristid, with the lophid crest gently Sshaped in occlusal view.These molars also lack the folding of the enamel around the protoconid and paracristid seen in the molars of most macropodins. The buccal and lingual margins of the lophids are strongly convex in posterior view, giving the molar crowns a distinctly rounded look. The medial pterygoid and masseteric fossae of the posterior mandible are more enlarged in the referred specimen, relative to the dimensions of the dentition, than is seen in any species of Protemnodon . The mandibular foramen and pterygoid fossa are not preserved in the holotype and the masseteric fossa is only partially preserved but, based on the wide angle of the medial margin of the anterior of the masseteric fossa, this muscular insertion area was similarly enlarged in both specimens of N. nombe . The digastric sulcus is deep and narrow, indicating an increased capacity for abduction of the mandible. Both specimens possess a long, quite deep buccinator sulcus, in common with species of Protemnodon , but the groove is angled more posteroventrally and is less parallel with the cheek tooth row. As this combination of characteristics does not closely align N. nombe with any macropodid genus, it was classified as a member of the new monospecific genus Nombe , probably with affiliations to more basal macropodines ( Kerr & Prideaux 2022).