Palorchestidae Tate, 1948

Louys, Julien & Price, Gilbert J., 2015, The Chinchilla Local Fauna: An exceptionally rich and well-preserved Pliocene vertebrate assemblage from fluviatile deposits of south-eastern Queensland, Australia, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 60 (3), pp. 551-572 : 563-564

Family Palorchestidae Tate, 1948 Genus Palorchestes Owen, 1873

Type species: Palorchestes azael Owen, 1873 , Victoria, Pleistocene .

Palorchestes parvus de Vis, 1895

Fig. 7I .

Material.— QM F783 (lectotype, left mandibular fragment) from Chinchilla , Australia, Pliocene .

Remarks.— Palorchestes parvus was named by de Vis (1895) on the basis of material from the “Darling Downs”. In his review of Palorchestes, Woods (1958) suggested that the species was derived solely from specimens from Chinchilla and designated a lectotype for the species. However, it is noted that small-bodied species of Palorchestes potentially referable to P. parvus do occur in younger, Pleistocene deposits of the Darling Downs ( Price and Hocknull 2005). Rich et al. (1991) also listed cf. Palorchestes sp. from Chinchilla, but we could find no further reference to that taxon.

Stratigraphic and geographic range.—Pliocene to?Pleistocene; eastern Australia.

Family Vombatidae Burnett, 1830

Genus Vombatus Geoffroy, 1803

Type species: Vombatus ursinus (Shaw, 1800) , Tasmania, Recent .

Vombatus ursinus (Shaw, 1800) Fig. 7H .

Material.—QM F743 (proximal right tibia) from Chinchilla, Australia, Pliocene.

Remarks.— De Vis (1883c) erected Sarcophilus prior (marsupial devil) on the basis of a tibia fragment. Bartholomai and Marshall (1973) referred the specimen to? Vombatus prior (wombat) noting marked similarities with the common wombat, V. ursinus , although they did not assign it to that species due to the paucity of fossil Vombatus material. Murray (1998) regarded? Vombatus prior as a nomen dubium, and listed it as a junior synonym of V. ursinus . The Vombatus material from Chinchilla has since been revised ( Louys 2015; see note added in proofs below).

Stratigraphic and geographic range.—Pliocene to Holocene; eastern and southeastern mainland Australia, and Tasmania (extant).

Family Thylacoleonidae Gill, 1872

Genus Thylacoleo Gervais, 1852

Type species: Thylacoleo carnifex Owen, 1858 , Lake Colongulac, Victoria, Pleistocene .

Thylacoleo crassidentatus Bartholomai, 1962 Fig. 7F .

Material.— QM F3565 (holotype, right mandibular ramus) from Chinchilla Rifle Range , Australia, Pliocene ; QM F2957 mandibular ramus), QM F2961 (mandibular ramus) , QM F2962 (mandibular ramus) , QM F2960 (mandibular ramus) , QM F2964 (mandibular ramus) , QM F2963 (p3) , QM F2495 mandibular ramus), QM F2941 (partial maxilla) , QM F2954 partial maxilla), and QM F2955 (partial maxilla) from Chinchilla, Australia, Pliocene.

Remarks.—In his revision of Thylacoleo in the QM collections, Woods (1956) suggested that specimens from Chinchilla warranted specific designation. This was supported by Bartholomai (1962), who erected T. crassidentatus for the Chinchilla material.

Stratigraphic and geographic range.— Pliocene; eastern Australia.

Figures

Fig.7. Non-macropodid marsupials from Chinchilla Sand,Australia, Pliocene.A. Dasyurus dunmalli Bartholomai,1971, QM F6579,Chinchilla Rifle Range, left mandibular ramus. B. Koobor notabilis (de Vis, 1889), QM F691, unspecified locality near Chinchilla, left maxillary fragment. C. Phascolarctidae gen. et sp. indet., QM F52287, Chinchilla Rifle Range, left dentary fragment.D. Phascolarctos?stirtoni Bartholomai, 1968, QM F52289, Chinchilla Rifle Range, isolated RM1, RM2 or RM3 fragment.E. Archerium chinchillaensis Wroeand Mackness, 2000, QM F39847,Chinchilla Rifle Range, left maxillary fragment. F. Thylacoleo crassidentatus Bartholomai, 1962, QM F3565, right mandibular ramus. G. Euryzygoma dunense (de Vis, 1888), QM F376, unspecified locality near Chinchilla, left mandible. H. Vombatus ursinus (Shaw, 1800), QM F743, unspecified locality near Chinchilla, proximal right tibia. I. Palorchestes parvus de Vis, 1895, QM F783, unspecified locality near Chinchilla, left mandibular fragment. J. Euowenia grata (de Vis, 1887), QM F519, north bank of Condamine River, mandible. K. Thylacinus cynocephalus (Harris, 1808), QM F9476, Chinchilla Rifle Range, right mandibular fragment.