Woodburnodon
Woodburnodon
Extinct genus of marsupial
Woodburnodon is an extinct genus of microbiotherian marsupial whose fossils have been found on Seymour Island, Antarctica. It lived during the Eocene epoch.
| Woodburnodon Temporal range: Eocene | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Microbiotheria |
| Family: | †Woodburnodontidae Goin et al., 2007 |
| Genus: | †Woodburnodon Goin et al., 2007 |
| Species: | †W. casei |
| Binomial name | |
| †Woodburnodon casei Goin et al., 2007[1] | |
The genus is represented by single species, Woodburnodon casei, which was described in 2007 from fossils found on the Antarctic peninsula.[2] Woodburnodon is currently the only formally described species in the family Woodburnodontidae, although fossils of a unidentified Early Eocene woodburnodontids have also been found in Patagonia.[3]
Woodburnodon was the largest known member of the order Microbiotheria. It was at least three or four times larger than the microbiotherid Pachybiotherium, which has been estimated at 215–312 g (7.6–11.0 oz).[2] This would put the size of Woodburnodon at around 1 kg (2.2 lb).
- "Woodburnodon". Fossilworks.
- Goin, F. J.; Zimicz, N.; Reguero, M. A.; Santillana, S. N.; Marenssi, S. A.; Moly, J. J. (2007). "New marsupial (Mammalia) from the Eocene of Antarctica, and the origins and affinities of the Microbiotheria". Revista de la Asociación Geológica Argentina. 62 (4): 597–603. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
- Goin, F. J.; Woodburne, M. O.; Zimicz, A. N.; Martin, G. M.; Chornogubsky, L. (16 October 2015). A Brief History of South American Metatherians: Evolutionary Contexts and Intercontinental Dispersals. Springer. p. 216. ISBN 978-94-017-7420-8.