Kingdom Animalia Class Mammalia Family Ornithorhynchidae Rank Species | Phylum Chordata Order Monotremata Genus †Obdurodon | |
Similar Obdurodon, Obdurodon dicksoni, Ornithorhynchidae, Teinolophos, Steropodon | ||
Obdurodon tharalkooschild is an extinct species of platypus in the genus Obdurodon. It is known from a single tooth found at the Miocene-aged Two Tree Site fossil beds in Riversleigh in Queensland, Australia.
The tooth was discovered in 2012 by a team from the University of New South Wales including Mike Archer, Suzanne Hand, and Rebecca Pian.
The species was present in the middle and upper Miocene (5–15 million years ago). Due to wear on the tooth suggestive of crushing hard shells (such as those of turtles), O. tharalkooschild is believed to have been carnivorous and estimated to be twice the size of the modern platypus at one metre long. The specific name was chosen in honour of an indigenous Australian creation story for the platypus, where a duck named Tharalkoo gives birth to a chimeric creature after being ravished by a water-rat.