Kingdom Animalia Infraclass Marsupialia Species N. greystanesi Phylum Chordata Order Diprotodontia | Class Mammalia Family Phascolarctidae Scientific name Nimiokoala greystanesi Rank Genus | |
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Similar Litokoala, Diprotodontia, Silvabestius, Giant koala, Priscileo |
The Riversleigh rainforest koala (Nimiokoala greystanesi) is an extinct species of marsupial, closely related to the modern koala, though it may not look like a koala, that lived 10–16 million years ago in the middle Miocene of Queensland. It probably had a diet of leaves similar to that of the modern species, but whether it specialized on eucalypt leaves is unknown. It was a third of a modern koala's size, being 25–30 cm long, and the mouth protruded from the skull. To date, a partial skull has been found along with several lower jaws and isolated teeth, containing in aggregate the entire dentition.
References
Riversleigh rainforest koala Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA