Simosthenurus

Simosthenurus, also referred to as the short-faced kangaroo, is an extinct genus of megafaunal macropods that existed in Australia during the Pleistocene. Analysis of Simosthenurus fossils has contributed to the finding that there are three lineages of macropods: Sthenurinae, Macropodinae, and Lagostrophinae. The genus Simosthenurus was among the sthenurines.

Simosthenurus

Jonathan Chen · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
SimosthenuriniPBDB
Diet
omnivorePBDB, for Marsupialia
Life habit
scansorialPBDB, for Marsupialia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Mammalia

Time the record covers

At least 3.4 million years on record.

The record covers at least 3.6 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 5.333 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 0 of 128 occurrencesPliocene — about 5 of 128 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 123 of 128 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 0 of 128 occurrences5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.3–5.1 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences5.1–4.9 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.9–4.7 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.7–4.5 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.5–4.3 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.3–4.1 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.1–3.9 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences3.9–3.7 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences3.7–3.5 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences3.5–3.3 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.3–3.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.1–2.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences2.9–2.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences2.7–2.5 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.5–2.3 Mya — about 8 occurrences2.3–2.1 Mya — about 8 occurrences2.1–1.9 Mya — about 8 occurrences1.9–1.8 Mya — about 8 occurrences1.8–1.6 Mya — about 8 occurrences1.6–1.4 Mya — about 8 occurrences1.4–1.2 Mya — about 8 occurrences1.2–972 ka Mya — about 8 occurrences972 ka–778 ka Mya — about 8 occurrences778 ka–583 ka Mya — about 10 occurrences583 ka–389 ka Mya — about 10 occurrences389 ka–194 ka Mya — about 10 occurrences194 ka–0 Mya — about 21 occurrences3.6 Mya129 ka5.8 Mya0 Mya

128 occurrences of Simosthenurus on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

128 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

4 formations

Batesford Limestone — 38.09°S, 144.28°EChinchilla Sand — 26.75°S, 150.63°EAllingham — 19.72°S, 145.60°ETirari — 27.98°S, 137.73°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Simosthenurus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 124 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Simosthenurus and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Simosthenurus and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

266 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 87 sites for Simosthenurus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

12 references

Each of the 128 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Simosthenurus

Credit
Jonathan Chen
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Simosthenurus was found in Smithsonian Open Access and Sketchfab.

MorphoSource was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itSimosthenurini through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Tedford 1966