Zygomaturus
Name:
Zygomaturus
(large cheeks).
Phonetic: Zy-go-mat-yur-us.
Named By: Ricahrd Owen - 1858.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia,
Marsupialia, Diprotodontia, Diprotodontidae.
Species: Z. trilobus
(type), Z. diahotensis, Z. gilli, Z. keanei,
Z. nimborensis.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Largest individuals up to 2.5
meters long.
Known locations: Australia, Papua New Guinea,
New Caledonia.
Time period: Messinian of the Miocene through to the
end of the Pleistocene.
Fossil representation: Many individuals.
A relative of the more famous Diprotodon, Zygomaturus was another of the exceptionally large wombats that once roamed around Australia. As a genus Zygomaturus has been envisioned as preferring to live around waterways such as rivers and lakes where they could browse upon the aquatic plants that grew around the water’s edge. Like with much of the Australian mega fauna, Zygomaturus seems to have gone extinct at around the same time that the first aboriginal people arrived in Australia.
Further reading
- Le pretendu rhinoceros de Nouvelle Caledonie est un marsupial
(Zigomaturus diahotensis nov. sp.) - Geobios
14(2):201-217 - C. Guerin, J. H. Winslow, M.
Piboule & M. Faure - 1981.
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