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ON FOSSIL GIANT WOMBATS AND THE IDENTITY OF SCEPABNODON RAMSAYI
Author(s) -
STEPHENSON N. G.
Publication year - 1964
Publication title -
proceedings of the zoological society of london
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0370-2774
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1964.tb04513.x
Subject(s) - marsupial , identity (music) , genealogy , zoology , biology , history , art , aesthetics
Fossil wombats exceeding in size the recent species are re‐examined and compared. Type specimens in the British Museum, Australian Museum (Sydney) and South Australian Museum (Adelaide) are discussed. A history of the controversy concerning the identity of Sceparnodon ramsayi (Owen), known from upper incisor teeth described by Owen in 1884, is given. Morphological problems arising from the suggested identity of Sceparnodon ramsayi and Phascolonus gigas are discussed and it is concluded that the restoration by Stirling (1913), which has been generally accepted, is erroneous. A comparison is made between the upper incisors of Sceparnodon ramsayi and those of certain representatives of the Diprotodontidae. The view is put forward that the Sceparnodon ramsayi teeth do not belong to Phascolonus gigas but should be ascribed to another marsupial family, the Diprotodontidae. It is suggested that they belong to a small, otherwise unknown form related to Diprotodon.