Upper Oligocene–lower-Middle Miocene peramelemorphians from the Etadunna, Namba and Wipajiri formations of South Australia

Abstract

The oldest fossils referable to the marsupial order Peramelemorphia (which includes modern bandicoots and bilbies) stratigraphically date from the upper Oligocene of Australia. Here we describe new ancient peramelemorphian remains from the Etadunna, Namba and Wipajiri formations, which fill gaps in the documented evolutionary history of the clade spanning some 10 million years. The identified taxa include three new species of Bulungu that incorporate the oldest stem peramelemorphian known to date from Faunal Zone A of the Etadunna Formation. We also report a new genus and species of potential thylacomyid, which pushes back the divergence of bilbies by ∼10 million years. Finally, we present a phylogenetic analysis that clarifies the evolutionary relationships of these new taxa with a reassignment of the genus Bulungu to Yaraloidea.

Kenny J. Travouillon* [[email protected]], Western Australian Museum, Collections and Research, 49 Kew Street, Welshpool, Western Australia, 6106, Australia; Robin M. D. Beck [[email protected]], Ecosystems and Environment Research Centre, School of Science, Engineering and Environment, University of Salford, Manchester, UK; Judd A. Case [[email protected]], Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA, 99004, USA.

Keywords:

• Peramelemorphia
• Oligocene
• bandicoot
• evolution
• phylogeny
• bilby

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Acknowledgements

We thank the Western Australian Museum and Eastern Washington University for provision of facilities. Mark Goodwin, Bill Clemens and Pat Holroyd (UCMP), Mary-Anne Binnie and Neville Pledge (SAM), and Erich Fitzgerald and the late David Pickering (NMV) provided access to specimens and information. Mike Archer and Yamila Gurovich (University of New South Wales) contributed constructive reviews.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplemental material

Supplemental research materials for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.z8w9ghxbn.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and the Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS).