Palorchestes
Name:
Palorchestes
(Ancient leaper).
Phonetic: Pal-or-chess-teez.
Named By: Richard Owen - 1873.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia, Marsupiala,
Diprotodontia, Palorchestidae.
Species: P. azael (type), P.
anulus, P. painei, P. parvus, P. pickeringi, P.
selestiae.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: About 2.5 meters long.
Known locations: Australia, New South Wales.
Queensland, Victoria - Nelson Bay Formation.
Time period: Tortonian of the Miocene through to the
Zanclean of the Pliocene.
Fossil representation: Remains of several
individuals, though possibly more fossils waiting to be described.
Palorchestes
was a large and probably heavy diprotodont, a kind of large
quadrupedal herbivore that as a group had a distribution exclusive to
ancient Australia. With this appearance in mind, it seems odd that
this creature should be given a name that means ‘ancient leaper’,
but this is easily enough explained by the simple fact that when this
genus was first named by Richard Owen in 1873, he only had a
fragmentary jaw to go on. Owen believed that this jaw was actually
from an ancient kangaroo, and hence the name Palorchestes
was given
to the genus.
Palorchestes
is noted for two things in particular, the first being the large and
powerful forelimbs which have very large and robust claws on the end.
These are believed to have been used to pull down branches so that
Palorchestes could feed upon foliage that otherwise
would have been
beyond reach. Ecologically this would have meant that Palorchestes
would have had a similar niche to the large ground sloths of North and
South America.
Second
is that the skull of Palorchestes is formed so
that it could have
supported a short proboscis (trunk). Combined with a long
tongue, as evidenced by a long lower jaw symphysis, this would have
allowed Palorchestes even more flexibility and
reach when feeding.
Further reading
- On the Fossil Mammals of Australia. Part IX. Family
Macropodidae; Genera Macropus, Pachysiagon,
Leptosiagon,
Procoptodon, and Palorchestes,
Richard Owen - 1874.
- A new species of Palorchestidae (Marsupialia) from the Pliocene
and early Pleistocene of Victoria, K. J. Piper - 2006.
- Palorchestes selestiae, a new species of
palorchestid marsupial
from the early Pliocene Bluff Downs Local Fauna, northeastern
Queensland, B. S. Mackness - 2005.
- Reconstructing Palorchestes (Marsupialia: Palorchestidae) from Giant
Kangaroo to Marsupial 'Tapir. - Proceedings of the Linnean Society of
New South Wales. Linnean Society of New South Wales. 130: 21–36. - B.
S. Mackness - 2008.
- The extraordinary osteology and functional morphology of the limbs in
Palorchestidae, a family of strange extinct marsupial giants. - PLoS
ONE. 14 (9): e0221824. - Hazel L. Richards, Rod T. Wells, Alistair R.
Evans, Erich M. G. Fitzgerald & Justin W. Adams - 2019.
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