Hypsiprymnodontidae
Encyclopedia
The Hypsiprymnodontidae (icon) are a family
of macropod
s, one of two families containing animals commonly referred to as rat-kangaroos. There is a single known extant genus and species in this family, the Musky Rat-kangaroo
, Hypsiprymnodon moschatus, which occurs in northern Australia
and New Guinea
. During the Pleistocene
megafauna
from this family occurred in the genera Ekaltadeta
.
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of macropod
Macropodiformes
Macropodiformes is one of the three suborders of the large marsupial order Diprotodontia. Kangaroos, wallabies and allies, bettongs, potaroos and rat kangaroos are all members of this suborder.- Classification :...
s, one of two families containing animals commonly referred to as rat-kangaroos. There is a single known extant genus and species in this family, the Musky Rat-kangaroo
Musky Rat-kangaroo
The Musky Rat-kangaroo is a marsupial species found in the rainforests of northeast Australia. Although some scientists place this species as a subfamily of the family Potoroidae, the most recent classification places it in the family Hypsiprymnodontidae with prehistoric rat-kangaroos.It is the...
, Hypsiprymnodon moschatus, which occurs in northern Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
. During the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
megafauna
Megafauna
In terrestrial zoology, megafauna are "giant", "very large" or "large" animals. The most common thresholds used are or...
from this family occurred in the genera Ekaltadeta
Ekaltadeta
Ekaltadeta is an extinct genus of giant marsupials related to modern rat-kangaroos.They are hypothesized to have been either predatory, or omnivorous with a fondness for meat, based on their chewing teeth. This conclusion is based mainly on the size and shape of a large buzz-saw-shaped cheek-tooth,...
.