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PALAEONTOLOGY:
- FOSSIL THYLACINES -
(page 5)
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    Thylacinus yorkellus:

     Thylacinus yorkellus is a moderately small-bodied species of thylacinid from the latest Miocene or, more likely, earliest Pliocene of South Australia (Curramulka Local Fauna).  This recently described species is shown via cladistic analysis to be the sister species of T. cynocephalus, and distinct from the approximately contemporary T. megiriani from the Northern Territory.  New dentary material was described by Yates (2015).  Each of the three known late Miocene to early Pliocene Thylacinus species (T. potens, T. megiriani and T. yorkellus) suggest that, instead of declining, there was a modest radiation of Thylacinus in the late Miocene.

holotype specimen of Thylacinus yorkellus
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The holotype specimen (SAM P29807) of Thylacinus yorkellus, an incomplete left dentary, in (A) lateral, (B) medial, and (C) dorsal view.  Scale bar = 50 mm.  Photo: Steven Jackson.  (Yates, 2015).
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    Tyarrpecinus rothi:
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  T. rothi is a Late Miocene thylacinid that was found at the Alcoota Scientific Reserve (Alcoota Local Fauna), Northern Territory.  Its specific name honors Karl Roth for his contributions to the natural history of central Australia.  The holotype specimen is a left maxillary fragment containing P2 and damaged M1-4.  It was reassembled from a concentration of small bone and tooth fragments, which according to Murray and Megirian (2000), may represent the contents of a crocodilian coprolite (fossilized dropping).  Many of the fragments exhibit chemical erosion and bear a coating of calcite. Tyarrpecinus is considered to be more closely related to species of Thylacinus than to other thylacinid genera.  Possibly, T. rothi lived contemporarily in the same habitat as the much larger and more derived Thylacinus potens, which is also known from the Alcoota Local Fauna.

    Wabulacinus ridei:

    An Early Miocene thylacine from Riversleigh (Camel Sputum Site, Camel Sputum Local Fauna) whose species name honors David Ride, who made the first revision of thylacinid fossils (Ride 1964).

holotype specimen of Tyarrpecinus rothi
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The holotype left maxillary fragment of Tyarrpecinus rothi in lateral (top) and occlusal (bottom) view.
(Murray and Megirian 2000).
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W. ridei was described on the basis of right maxillary fragment containing M1-2 and a left dentary fragment with M3.  This species is more specialized than Muribacinus, Nimbacinus and Ngamalacinus but more primitive than Thylacinus.

    The Kutjamarpu thylacinid:

    An isolated premolar, discovered in 1971 at the Leaf Locality of the Wipijiri Formation, Lake Ngapakaldi, Etadunna Station, South Australia, would appear to represent a thylacinid.  The fauna of the Leaf Locality is called the Kutjamarpu Local Fauna (Stirton et al.1967), is of Miocene age, and is interpreted by M. O. Woodburne to be approximately 12 million years old.  Only a very limited amount of phylogenetically significant information can be gleaned from this tooth.  Several additional collecting trips have been made to the Leaf Locality, but no more complete specimens of this species have been found (Archer 1982).

    Further details about Miocene thylacinids can be found in Murray and Megirian's paper "Two new genera and three new species of Thylacinidae (Marsupialia) from the Miocene of the Northern Territory, Australia".

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Acknowledgement: This subsection of the Thylacine Museum has been referenced (in part) from: ARCHER, M., 1982. A review of Miocene thylacinids (Thylacinidae, Marsupialia), the phylogenetic position of the Thylacinidae and the problem of apriorisms in character analysis. In "Carnivorous Marsupials - Vol. 2" (Ed. M. Archer). Roy. Zool. Soc. N.S.W.: Sydney. pp. 445-76.
References
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