Woodburnodon
Extinct genus of marsupial
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Woodburnodon is an extinct genus of microbiotherian marsupial whose fossils have been found on Seymour Island, Antarctica. It lived during the Eocene epoch.
| Woodburnodon Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Microbiotheria |
| Family: | †Woodburnodontidae Goin et al., 2007 |
| Genus: | †Woodburnodon Goin et al., 2007 |
| Species: | †W. casei |
| Binomial name | |
| †Woodburnodon casei Goin et al., 2007[1] | |
Taxonomy
The genus is represented by a single species, Woodburnodon casei, which was described in 2007 from fossils found on the Antarctic Peninsula.[2] Woodburnodon is currently the only formally described genus in the family Woodburnodontidae, although fossils of an unidentified Early Eocene taxon have also been found in Patagonia.[3]
Description
Woodburnodon was the largest known member of the order Microbiotheria. It was at least three or four times larger than the microbiotherid Pachybiotherium, which has been estimated at 215–312 g (7.6–11.0 oz).[2] This would put the size of Woodburnodon at around 1 kg (2.2 lb).