Ekaltadeta Temporal range: Oligocene – Pleistocene | |
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An artist's illustration of Ekaltadeta | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Infraclass: | Marsupiala |
Order: | Diprotodontia |
Family: | Hypsiprymnodontidae |
Subfamily: | Propleopinae |
Genus: | †Ekaltadeta Archer & Flannery, 1985 |
Referred species | |
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Ekaltadeta was a giant marsupial related to modern rat-kangaroos.
They are hypothesized to have been either predatory, or omnivorous with a fondness for meat, based on their chewing teeth. This conclusion is based mainly on the size and shape of a large buzz-saw-shaped cheek-tooth, the adult third premolar, which is common to all Ekaltadeta. A few species actually did also have long predatory "fangs".
Fossils of the animals include two near complete skulls, and numerous upper and lower jaws.
Taxonomy
Gallery
Ekaltadeta/Gallery