| Wakaleo | |
|---|---|
| |
| A life restoration of Wakaleo oldfieldi | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Diprotodontia |
| Family: | †Thylacoleonidae |
| Genus: | †Wakaleo Clemens & Plane, 1974 |
| Referred species | |
| |
Wakaleo (indigenous Australian waka, "little", "small", and Latin leo, "lion") was a genus of medium-sized thylacoleonids that lived in Australia in the early to late Miocene. It was approximately 2.5 ft (80 cm) long, or the size of a dog. Although much smaller than its close relative, the marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex), Wakaleo would have been a successful hunter in its time. It had teeth specially designed for cutting and stabbing. The ocelot-sized predator Wakaleo, along with its jaguar-sized relative Thylacoleo, were closely related to the extant wombat. It would've probably weighed in at 20 kg, however, other sources stated that it could reach 50 kg.
Taxonomy[]
Wakaleo was discovered in 1974 by William A. Clemens Jr. and M. Plane.
