Rank Genus | Phylum Chordata Suborder Vombatiformes | |
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Zygomaturus is an extinct genus of giant marsupial from Australia during the Pleistocene.
Contents
Description
It was a large animal, weighing 500 kg (1100 lbs) or more and standing about 1.5 m (4.9 ft) tall and 2.5 m (8.2 ft) long. Much like a hippopotamus, the animal had raised nostrils. Like the wombat, it also had a backwards-facing pouch, which protected its infants (referred to as "joeys") from drowning while the animal was foraging in swamps.
Palaeobiology
It had a heavy body and thick legs and is believed to be similar to the modern pygmy hippopotamus in both size and build. The genus moved on all fours. It lived in the wet coastal margins of Australia and became extinct about 45,000 years ago. Zygomaturus also is believed to have expanded its range toward the interior of the continent along the waterways. It is believed to have lived solitarily or possibly in small herds. Zygomaturus probably ate reeds and sedges by shoveling them up in clumps with its lower incisor teeth.
