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Potorous (potoroo)

Mammalia - Diprotodontia - Potoroidae

Taxonomy
Potorous was named by Desmarest (1804). It is extant.

It was assigned to Macropina by Gray (1825); to Macropodidae by McKenna and Bell (1997); and to Potoroinae by Pocock (1921), Lundelius and Turnbull (1984) and Burk et al. (1998).

Species
P. longipes, P. platyops, P. tridactylus
Species lacking formal opinion data
P. apicalis

Synonymy list
YearName and author
1804Potorous Desmarest
1825Potorous Gray p. 339
1921Potorous Pocock p. 607
1984Potorous Lundelius and Turnbull p. 2
1997Potorous McKenna and Bell
1998Potorous Burk et al. p. 466

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
subclassSynapsida
—Therapsida()
RankNameAuthor
infraorderCynodontia()
—Mammaliamorpha
—Mammaliaformes
classMammalia
—Theriamorpha(Rowe 1993)
—Theriiformes()
—Trechnotheria
—Cladotheria
—Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
subclassMetatheria()
—Marsupialiformes
—Marsupialia()
—AustralidelphiaSzalay 1982
orderDiprotodontiaOwen 1866
familyPotoroidae()
genusPotorousDesmarest 1804

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. Potorous Desmarest 1804 [potoroo]
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Potorous longipes Seebeck and Johnson 1980 [long-footed potoroo]
†Potorous platyops Gould 1844
Potorous tridactylus Kerr 1792 [long-nosed potoroo]
Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available
Body mass estimates
estimateequationreference
 3.16 kg Mammalia femur diameterGingerich 1990
 946.7 g Mammalia humerus diameterGingerich 1990
mean: 1.73 kg
Measurements
partNmean
femur diameter17.70
humerus diameter14.80
radius diameter13.50

Composition: phosphaticsubp
Environment: terrestrialc
Locomotion: actively mobilec
Life habit: saltatorialg
Diet: herbivoref
Diet 2: insectivoref
Reproduction: viviparoussubc
Created: 2012-05-15 14:35:19
Modified: 2012-05-14 23:35:19
Source: g = genus, f = family, subc = subclass, c = class, subp = subphylum
References: Hopson 1973, Clemens 1979, Nowak 1991, Carroll 1988, Lillegraven 1979, Hendy et al. 2009, Bassarova et al. 2009

Age range

Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Pliocene to the top of the Holocene or 5.33300 to 0.00000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 2.588 Ma

Collections (19 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Pliocene5.333 - 2.588Australia (New South Wales) Potorous sp. (182842)
Pleistocene2.588 - 0.0117Australia (Victoria) Potorous tridactylus (136221)
Pleistocene2.588 - 0.0117Australia (South Australia) Potorous apicalis, Potorous tridactylus, Potorous platyops (28298) Potorous platyops (136430) Potorous sp. (135983) Potorous tridactylus (136076) Potorous tridactylus, Potorous platyops (136159)
Pleistocene2.588 - 0.0117Australia (Western Australia) Potorous sp. (136225)
Middle Pleistocene0.774 - 0.129Australia (South Australia) Potorous apicalis, Potorous platyops (28364)
Middle Pleistocene - Late/Upper Pleistocene0.774 - 0.0117Australia (South Australia) Potorous tridactylus, Potorous platyops (182920 183262 183263)
Middle Pleistocene - Late/Upper Pleistocene0.774 - 0.0117Australia (Queensland) Potorous tridactylus (136730)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117Australia (South Australia) Potorous platyops (136072 181314)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117Australia (New South Wales) Potorous tridactylus (181897) Potorous tridaetylus (182447)
Late/Upper Pleistocene - Holocene0.129 - 0.0Australia (South Australia) Potorous platyops (136172)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Australia (Western Australia) Potorous platyops (183094)