Phascolarctidae

{{Short description|Family of marsupials}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = Phascolarctidae<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Diprotodontia | id = 11000003 | page = 43 | heading = Family Phascolarctidae}}</ref> | fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Late Oligocene|Recent}} | image = Koala climbing tree.jpg | image_caption = ''[[Phascolarctos cinereus]]'' | display_parents = 2 | parent_authority = Aplin & Archer, 1987 | taxon = Phascolarctidae | authority = [[Richard Owen|Owen]], 1839 | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = * {{extinct}}''[[Invictokoala]]'' * {{extinct}}''[[Litokoala]]'' * {{extinct}}''[[Lumakoala]]''? * {{extinct}}''[[Koobor]]'' * {{extinct}}''[[Madakoala]]'' * {{extinct}}''[[Nimiokoala]]'' * {{extinct}}''[[Perikoala]]'' * {{extinct}}''[[Priscakoala]]'' * {{extinct}}''[[Stelakoala]]'' * ''[[Phascolarctos]]'' }} The '''Phascolarctidae''' (''φάσκωλος (phaskolos)'' - pouch or bag, ''ἄρκτος (arktos)'' - bear, from the Greek ''phascolos'' + ''arctos'' meaning pouched bear) is a [[Family (taxonomy)|family]] of [[Marsupialia|marsupials]] of the order [[Diprotodontia]], consisting of only one extant species, the [[koala]],<ref name=msw3/> and six well-known fossil species, with another six less well known fossil species, and two fossil species of the genus ''Koobor'', whose taxonomy is debatable but are placed in this group. The closest relatives of the Phascolarctidae are the [[wombat]]s, which comprise the family [[Vombatidae]].<ref name=msw3_b>{{MSW3 Diprotodontia | id = 11000002 | pages = 43-44 | heading = Suborder Vombatiformes}}</ref>

The fossil record of the family dates back to the [[Middle Miocene]]<ref>{{cite book | author = Benton, M.J. | title = Vertebrate Palaeontology | publisher = Oxford | year = 2005 | pages = 314}}</ref> or [[Late Oligocene]].<ref name=Black2012/>

==Classification== '''Family Phascolarctidae'''<ref name=msw3/> * Genus {{extinct}}''[[Nimiokoala]]'' **{{extinct}}''[[Nimiokoala greystanesi]]'' * Genus {{extinct}}''[[Invictokoala]]''<ref name=Invictokoala>{{Cite journal|author=Gilbert J. Price and Scott A. Hocknull |year=2011 |title=''Invictokoala monticola'' gen. et sp. nov. (Phascolarctidae, Marsupialia), a Pleistocene plesiomorphic koala holdover from Oligocene ancestors |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=327–335 |doi=10.1080/14772019.2010.504079 |bibcode=2011JSPal...9..327P |s2cid=84316375 }}</ref> **{{extinct}}''Invictokoala monticola'' * Genus {{extinct}}''[[Madakoala]]'' **{{extinct}}''Madakoala robustus'' **{{extinct}}''Madakoala wellsi'' **{{extinct}}''Madakoala devisi'' * Genus {{extinct}}''[[Litokoala]]'' **{{extinct}}''Litokoala garyjohnstoni'' **{{extinct}}''Litokoala kutjamarpensis'' **{{extinct}}''Litokoala kanunkaensis'' * Genus {{extinct}}''[[Lumakoala]]'' **{{extinct}}''Lumakoala blackae''<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Arthur I. Crichton, Robin M. D. Beck, Aidan M. C. Couzens, Trevor H. Worthy, Aaron B. Camens and Gavin J. Prideaux|year=2023 |title=A probable koala from the Oligocene of central Australia provides insights into early diprotodontian evolution |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=13 |issue=1 |at=14521 |doi=10.1038/s41598-023-41471-0 |pmid=37666885 |pmc=10477348 | doi-access = free |bibcode=2023NatSR..1314521C |display-authors=etal}}</ref> * Genus {{extinct}}''[[Koobor]]'' **{{extinct}}''Koobor jimbarrati'' **{{extinct}}''Koobor notabilis'' * Genus {{extinct}}''[[Perikoala]]'' **{{extinct}}''Perikoala palankarinnica'' **{{extinct}}''Perikoala robustus'' * Genus ''[[Phascolarctos]]'' **{{extinct}}''Phascolarctos maris'' **[[Koala]] - ''Phascolarctos cinereus'' **{{extinct}}[[Giant koala]] - ''Phascolarctos stirtoni'' **{{extinct}}''Phascolarctos yorkensis'' (formerly ''Cundokoala yorkensis'')<ref name=Talent>{{cite book|author=Talent, John A.|year=2012|title=Earth and Life|publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]]|page=1047|isbn=9789048134281}}</ref> * Genus {{extinct}}''[[Priscakoala]]'' **{{extinct}}''Priscakoala lucyturnbullae''<ref name=Black2012>{{cite journal | author = Karen Black | author-link = Karen H. Black | year = 2012 | title = New Tertiary koala (Marsupialia, Phascolarctidae) from Riversleigh, Australia, with a revision of phascolarctid phylogenetics, paleoecology, and paleobiodiversity | journal = Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology | volume = 32 | issue = 1 | pages = 125–138 | doi = 10.1080/02724634.2012.626825| bibcode = 2012JVPal..32..125B | s2cid = 86152273 |display-authors=etal}}</ref> * Genus {{extinct}}''[[Stelakoala]]''{{cn|date=March 2025}} **{{extinct}}''[[Stelakoala riversleighensis]]''

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} {{Wikispecies|Phascolarctidae}} * [http://koalas.org/koala-info.html Koalas with evolutionary information].

[[Category:Vombatiforms]] [[Category:Koalas]] [[Category:Extant Chattian first appearances]] [[Category:Mammal families]] [[Category:Taxa named by Richard Owen]]