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 | |
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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] |
Taxonomy
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]
Description
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).