Naraboryctes

Naraboryctes; Temporal range: Early Miocene
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Marsupialia
Order:	Notoryctemorphia
Family:	Notoryctidae
Genus:	†Naraboryctes; Archer et al., 2011.
Species:	†N. philcreaseri
Binomial name
	†Naraboryctes philcreaseri; Archer et al., 2011.

Naraboryctes philcreaseri is a fossil species of

Riversleigh area, northwestern Queensland, Australia

.

Taxonomy

It was first named by Michael Archer, Robin Beck, Miranda Gott, Suzanne Hand, Henk Godthelp and Karen Black in 2011 and is the type species of genus Naraboryctes. The

specific epithet honors Phil Creaser,^[1] and is referred to as "Phil Creaser's Drinking Digger".^[2]

The genus is allied to the

synapomorphies associated with marsupial moles, and may belong to a previously unknown lineage of metatherians.^[3]

Researchers working to resolve the phylogeny have placed the taxon in a unique order of Mammalia as

Notoryctemorphia.^[2]

Description

Naraboryctes philcreaseri describes an animal known from specimens of fossil material that includes fragments of maxillary and jaw bones and teeth. The recognised fossil specimens also some post-cranial skeletal remains. N. philcreaseri is regarded as a transitional fossil of mammal, with evidence of characteristics suited to foraging or inhabiting a subterranean environ with the dominating rainforest. The weight is estimated to have been approximately 200 grams. The diet is presumed to resemble the modern marsupial mole, which is insectivorous.^[2]

Distribution

Naraboryctes philcreaseri is a species of the

type locality is Upper Site on Godthelp hill.^[1] The Riversleigh area in this period was a permanently wet and closed canopy rainforest environment, a stark contrast to the central deserts of Australia favoured by their sand-swimming modern descendants.^[2]^[1]

The species is the earliest discovery of the family's ancestral lineage.[2]

References

^
PMID 21047857
.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Naraboryctes philcreaseri Phil Creaser's Drinking Digger". Riversleigh Faunal encyclopedia. wakaleo.net. Archived from the original on 10 March 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
^ On Dryolestid affinities [1] ^{[full citation needed]}

[Archer11-1] 
PMID 21047857
.

[wakaleo822-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Naraboryctes philcreaseri Phil Creaser's Drinking Digger". Riversleigh Faunal encyclopedia. wakaleo.net. Archived from the original on 10 March 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2019.

[RSAyt-3] On Dryolestid affinities [1] ^{[full citation needed]}

[1]

[2]

[3]