Ambulator

Ambulator
Temporal range: Pliocene, 3.9 Ma
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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: †Diprotodontidae
Genus: †Ambulator
van Zoelen et al., 2023
Species:
†A. keanei
Binomial name
†Ambulator keanei
(Stirton, 1967)

Ambulator is an extinct genus of marsupials belonging to the family Diprotodontidae. It contains one species, A. keanei, whose remains were found in the Pliocene-aged Tirari Formation of South Australia. A. keanei was previously included in the genus Zygomaturus, but was moved to the new genus Ambulator in 2023. Features of its limbs suggest that Ambulator was better adapted to quadrupedal walking than earlier diprotodontids.[1]

References

  1. ^ van Zoelen, J. D.; Camens, A. B.; Worthy, T. H.; Prideaux, G. J. (2023). "Description of the Pliocene marsupial Ambulator keanei gen. nov. (Marsupialia: Diprotodontidae) from inland Australia and its locomotory adaptations". Royal Society Open Science. 10 (5). doi:10.1098/rsos.230211. PMC 10230189.


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