Kingdom Animalia Infraclass Marsupialia Phylum Chordata Order Dasyuromorphia | Class Mammalia Scientific name Malleodectes mirabilis Rank Genus | |
 | ||
Family †Malleodectidae
Archer et al., 2016 Species M. mirabilis & M. moenia Similar Dasyuromorphia, Thingodonta, Nimbadon, Silvabestius, Djarthia | ||
Malleodectes is a marsupial discovered in 2011 at Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. It could grow as large as a ferret, and lived in the Miocene, 17 million years ago. The reason for its name "Hammer Biter" is because it has blunt, hammer like teeth, not known from any other mammal extant or extinct. However, Scott Hocknull from the Queensland Museum has noticed similarities to the modern pink-tongued skink (Cyclodomorphus gerrardii), a reptile specialised in eating snails. This suggests that Malleodectes too was a specialised snail hunter.
In 2016, Malleodectes was reclassified into its own family; which itself lies within Dasyuromorphia.
References
Malleodectes Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA