Phalanger procuscus (de Vis, 1889)

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 : 564

Phalanger procuscus (de Vis, 1889)

Fig. 6D .

Material.— QM F687 (holotype, right scapula) from Chinchilla , Australia, Pliocene .

Remarks.— De Vis (1889c) originally named the specimen Cuscus procuscus . Referral to Phalanger here is based on the priority of the name. Mahoney and Ride (1975) referred this species to Marsupialia incertae sedis. Similar to Archizonurus securus , the specimen is clearly from a large-bodied taxon, much larger than any known phalangerid. We consider Phalanger procuscus as a species inquirenda.

Stratigraphic and geographic range.—Pliocene; eastern Australia.

Family Macropodidae Gray, 1821

Genus Brachalletes de Vis, 1883

Type species: Brachalletes palmeri de Vis, 1883 , Chinchilla, Pliocene.

Figures

Fig. 6. Mammal species of uncertain taxonomic identity from unspecified localities near Chinchilla, Australia, Pliocene. A. Koalemus ingens de Vis, 1889, QM F683, partial right fibula. B. Synaptodon aevorum de Vis, 1888, QM F811, right dentary fragment. C. Archizonurus securus de Vis, 1889, QM F682, proximal left scapula. D. Phalanger procuscus (de Vis, 1889), QM F687, right scapula. E. Chronozoon australe de Vis, 1883, QM F610, calvarium. F. Brachalletes palmeri de Vis, 1883, QM F3308, right femur. Scale bars 10 mm.