Biology:Nimbacinus
Nimbacinus is an extinct genus of thylacinid contains two species of carnivorous, quadrupedal marsupials in Australia both of which are extinct:
- Nimbacinus dicksoni Muirhead & Archer, 1990[1]
- Nimbacinus peterbridgei Churchill, Archer & Hand, 2024[2]
Like all thylacinids, Nimbacinus dicksoni was a dog-like marsupial, though its smaller size makes its appearance more comparable to that of a fox. Unlike its relatives, its jaws were likely strong enough for it to take down prey larger than itself.[3]
The name of the genus combines Nimba and cinus, derived from a word meaning "little" in the Wanyi language, indigenous peoples associated with the Riversleigh fossil site, and the Ancient Greek word kynos, meaning dog.[1]
Taxonomy
The description of N. richi was published in 2000 by researchers Peter F. Murray, working at the Museum of Central Australia and Dirk Megirian of the Northern Territory Museum.[4] The holotype is fossilised material excavated at "Top Site" at the Bullock Creek fossil area, a partial left dentary with a premolar and several molars that is dated to the mid-Miocene. The specific epithet commemorates Tom Rich, who introduced the authors to the site of their discovery.[4]
Palaeobiology
N. dicksoni had a bite force quotient of 189, making it one of the most powerfully biting mammals relative to its size of all time.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Muirhead, J.; Archer, M. (1990). "Nimbacinus dicksoni, a plesiomorphic thylacine (Marsupialia: Thylacinidae) from Tertiary deposits of Queensland and the Northern Territory". Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 28: 203–221. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/74470.
- ↑ Churchill, T. J.; Archer, M.; Hand, S. J. (2024). "Three new thylacinids (Marsupialia, Thylacinidae) from late Oligocene deposits of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 44 (1). doi:10.1080/02724634.2024.2384595. Bibcode: 2024JVPal..44E4595C.
- ↑ Attard, Marie R. G.; Parr, William C. H.; Wilson, Laura A. B.; Archer, Michael; Hand, Suzanne J.; Rogers, Tracey L.; Wroe, Stephen (2014). "Virtual Reconstruction and Prey Size Preference in the Mid Cenozoic Thylacinid, Nimbacinus dicksoni (Thylacinidae, Marsupialia)". PLOS ONE 9 (4). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0093088. PMID 24718109. Bibcode: 2014PLoSO...993088A.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Murray, P.; Megirian, D. (2000). "Two New Genera and Three New Species of Thylacinidae (Marsupialia) from the Miocene of the Northern Territory, Australia". The Beagle: Occasional Papers of the Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences 16: 145–162. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/254543.
- ↑ Wroe, Stephen; McHenry, Colin; Thomason, Jeffrey (22 March 2005). "Bite club: comparative bite force in big biting mammals and the prediction of predatory behaviour in fossil taxa" (in en). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 272 (1563): 619–625. doi:10.1098/rspb.2004.2986. ISSN 0962-8452. PMID 15817436. PMC 1564077. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2004.2986. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
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