Diprotodontidae

{{Short description|Extinct family of marsupials}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Late Oligocene | Late Pleistocene}} | image = Diprotodon optatum (2).jpg | image_caption = Restoration of ''[[Diprotodon]]'' | image2 = Zygomaturus trilobus.jpg | image2_caption = Fossil of ''[[Zygomaturus]]'' | taxon = Diprotodontidae | authority = Gill, 1872 | subdivision_ranks = Subfamilies and genera | subdivision = See text }}

'''Diprotodontidae''', from [[Ancient Greek]] [[wikt:δί-|δί-]] (''dí-''), meaning "two", [[wikt:πρῶτος|πρῶτος]] (''prôtos''), meaning "first", and [[wikt:ὀδούς|ὀδούς]] (''odoús''), meaning "tooth", is an [[extinct]] [[Family (taxonomy)|family]] of large herbivorous [[marsupial]]s, endemic to [[Australia]] and [[New Guinea]] during the [[Oligocene]] through [[Pleistocene]] periods from 28.4 million to 40,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=40185 |website=PaleoBiology Database |title=Family - Diprotodontidae Gill 1872 (diprotodont marsupial) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403040313/http://fossilworks.org/bridge.pl?action=taxonInfo&taxon_no=40185&is_real_user=1 |archive-date=2015-04-03}}</ref>

== Description == The family primarily consisted of large quadrupedal terrestrial [[Browsing (herbivory)|browsers]], notably including the largest marsupial that ever lived, the rhino-sized ''[[Diprotodon]].''<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Price|first1=Gilbert J.|last2=Ferguson|first2=Kyle J.|last3=Webb|first3=Gregory E.|last4=Feng|first4=Yue-xing|last5=Higgins|first5=Pennilyn|last6=Nguyen|first6=Ai Duc|last7=Zhao|first7=Jian-xin|last8=Joannes-Boyau|first8=Renaud|last9=Louys|first9=Julien|date=2017-09-27|title=Seasonal migration of marsupial megafauna in Pleistocene Sahul (Australia–New Guinea)|journal=Proc. R. Soc. B|language=en|volume=284|issue=1863|article-number=20170785|doi=10.1098/rspb.2017.0785|issn=0962-8452|pmid=28954903|pmc=5627191}}</ref> ''[[Nimbadon]],'' which is often considered a basal diprotodontid, was [[Arboreal locomotion|arboreal]].<ref name="Black-2012">{{Cite journal |last1=Black |first1=Karen H. |last2=Camens |first2=Aaron B. |last3=Archer |first3=Michael |last4=Hand |first4=Suzanne J. |date=2012-11-21 |editor-last=Evans |editor-first=Alistair Robert |title=Herds Overhead: Nimbadon lavarackorum (Diprotodontidae), Heavyweight Marsupial Herbivores in the Miocene Forests of Australia |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=7 |issue=11 |article-number=e48213 |bibcode=2012PLoSO...748213B |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0048213 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=3504027 |pmid=23185250 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Diprotodontids were [[plantigrade]] (foot and toes flat relative to the ground). In most diprotodontids, the forelimbs were not specialised and were capable of being used for functions other than movement. Some later diprotodontids from the Pliocene onwards like ''[[Ambulator]]'' and ''Diprotodon'' developed elephant-like forelimbs specialised for walking with modified wristbones which functioned as a [[heel]], along with the development of footpads, which means that the digits probably did not contact the ground, as evidenced by the lack of toes on footprints of ''Diprotodon''.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Camens |first1=Aaron |last2=Prideaux |first2=Gavin |last3=Zoelen |first3=Jacob van |date=2023-05-30 |title=Newly described enormous marsupial wandered great distances across Australia 3.5 million years ago |url=http://theconversation.com/newly-described-enormous-marsupial-wandered-great-distances-across-australia-3-5-million-years-ago-206492 |access-date=2023-05-31 |website=The Conversation |language=en}}</ref><ref name="van Zoelen-2023">{{Cite journal |last1=van Zoelen |first1=Jacob D. |last2=Camens |first2=Aaron B. |last3=Worthy |first3=Trevor H. |last4=Prideaux |first4=Gavin J. |date=May 2023 |title=Description of the Pliocene marsupial Ambulator keanei gen. nov. (Marsupialia: Diprotodontidae) from inland Australia and its locomotory adaptations |journal=Royal Society Open Science |language=en |volume=10 |issue=5 |doi=10.1098/rsos.230211 |doi-access=free|pmid=37266037 |issn=2054-5703|pmc=10230189 |bibcode=2023RSOS...1030211V }}</ref> In at least some representatives of the clade, the inside of the skull was lightened by large interior [[Sinus (anatomy)|sinus]] spaces.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sharp |first=Alana C. |date=2016 |title=A quantitative comparative analysis of the size of the frontoparietal sinuses and brain in vombatiform marsupials |url=https://museumsvictoria.com.au/collections-research/journals/memoirs-of-museum-victoria/volume-74-2016/pages-331-342/ |journal=Memoirs of Museum Victoria |volume=74 |pages=331–342 |doi=10.24199/j.mmv.2016.74.23 |issn=1447-2546|doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Ecology == At least some diprotodontids such as ''Diprotodon'' are thought to have lived in herds.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Price |first=Gilbert J. |date=June 2008 |title=Taxonomy and palaeobiology of the largest-ever marsupial, Diprotodon Owen, 1838 (Diprotodontidae, Marsupialia) |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |language=en |volume=153 |issue=2 |pages=369–397 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00387.x |issn=0024-4082|doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Taxonomy == Diprotodontids are members of the [[Vombatomorphia]], meaning that their closest living relatives are [[Wombat|wombats]], though they are more closed related to [[Palorchestidae]], with both families placed in the Diprotodontoidea.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Beck |first1=Robin M. D. |last2=Louys |first2=Julien |last3=Brewer |first3=Philippa |last4=Archer |first4=Michael |last5=Black |first5=Karen H. |last6=Tedford |first6=Richard H. |date=2020-06-25 |title=A new family of diprotodontian marsupials from the latest Oligocene of Australia and the evolution of wombats, koalas, and their relatives (Vombatiformes) |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=9741 |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-66425-8 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=7316786 |pmid=32587406|bibcode=2020NatSR..10.9741B }}</ref> Traditionally the family is divided into two subfamilies, Diprotodontinae and Zygomaturinae. The taxonomy of diprotodontids is in need of revision, as historically many diprotodontids were diagnosed solely on tooth morphology, however the morphology of the premolar teeth of diprotodontid species is highly variable between individuals, with the molar morphology often very similar in species that differ greatly in skeletal anatomy, making the taxonomic utility of morphological characters related to teeth questionable.<ref name="van Zoelen-2023" />

=== List of genera ===

* ''[[Alkwertatherium]]'' * ''[[Ambulator]]'' * ''[[Diprotodon]]'' * ''[[Euowenia]]'' * ''[[Euryzygoma]]'' * ''[[Meniscolophus]]'' * ?''[[Nimbadon]]'' * ''[[Nototherium]]'' * ''[[Pyramios]]'' * ''[[Sthenomerus]]'' * Zygomaturinae ** †''[[Hulitherium]]'' ** †''[[Kolopsis]]'' ** †''[[Kolopsoides]]'' ** †''[[Maokopia]]'' ** †''[[Neohelos]]'' ** †''[[Plaisiodon]]'' ** †''[[Raemeotherium]]'' ** †''[[Silvabestius]]'' ** †''[[Zygomaturus]]''

== Evolutionary history == The group first appeared during the Late [[Oligocene]], with representatives that were mostly [[sheep]]-sized, and substantially diversified beginning during the Late [[Miocene]], reaching an apex of diversity during the [[Pliocene]] with seven genera, likely due to the increase of open forested landscapes. The last known members of the group including ''Diprotodon'' and ''[[Zygomaturus]]'' from mainland Australia, and ''[[Hulitherium]]'' and ''[[Maokopia]]'' from New Guinea became extinct during the Late Pleistocene around 40,000 years ago as part of the [[Late Pleistocene extinctions|Late Pleistocene megafauna extinctions]], following the arrival of humans to Australia-New Guinea.<ref name="Black2012">{{cite book |last1=Black |first1=K. H. |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259220987 |title=Earth and life: global biodiversity, extinction intervals and biogeographic perturbations through time |last2=Archer |first2=M. |last3=Hand |first3=S. J. |last4=Godthelp |first4=H. |publisher=Springer Verlag |year=2012 |editor-last=Talent |editor-first=J. A. |pages=1040, 1047 |chapter=The Rise of Australian Marsupials: A Synopsis of Biostratigraphic, Phylogenetic, Palaeoecologic and Palaeobiogeographic Understanding |doi=10.1007/978-90-481-3428-1_35 |isbn=978-90-481-3427-4 |author-link=Karen H. Black}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}} * Vertebrate Palaeontology by Michael J. Benton (page 314) * Wildlife of Gondwana: Dinosaurs and Other Vertebrates from the Ancient Supercontinent (Life of the Past) by Pat Vickers Rich, Thomas Hewitt Rich, Francesco Coffa, and Steven Morton * Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea: One Hundred Million Years of Evolution by John A. Long, Michael Archer, Timothy Flannery, and Suzanne Hand (page 77)

[[Category:Diprotodontids| ]] [[Category:Prehistoric mammal families]] [[Category:Clawed herbivores]] [[Category:Chattian first appearances]] [[Category:Pleistocene genus extinctions]]