Simosthenurus maddocki

One of the short-faced kangaroos of subfamily Sthenurinae, Simosthenurus maddocki was first described by Dr Rod Wells and Dr Peter Murray in 1979 from fossils from the Victoria Fossil Cave in Naracoorte, southeastern South Australia.

The species was found across southern and southeastern Australia during the Pleistocene. It is believed to have been fairly specialised in its diet, eating mainly soft, new-growth vegetation and possibly fruits. Individuals of S. maddocki probably weighed around 60–80 kg, around average for a Pleistocene sthenurine.

Specimen number: WAM 92.8.8
Skeletal element: partial left maxilla
Geological age: Pleistocene
Locality/site: Lindsay Hall Cave
State/territory: South Australia

Wells, R. T. and P. F. Murray. 1979. A new sthenurine kangaroo (Marsupialia,
Macropodidae) from southeastern South Australia. Transactions of the
Royal Society ofSouth Australia 103, pp. 213–219.

Prideaux, G.J. (2004) Systematics and evolution of the sthenurine kangaroos. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences, 146, pp. 1–623. https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520098459.001.0001

Partial right maxilla of Simosthenurus maddocki, preserving the first molar through to the partially-erupted fourth molar. This is not the holotype for the species; it is the holotype of the subspecies, nullarborensis. Photo by J. D. van Zoelen.

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