Biology:List of diprotodonts

Short description: Animals in mammal order Diprotodontia

Clockwise from upper left: koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), mahogany glider (Petaurus gracilis), eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) and Sulawesi bear cuscus (Ailurops ursinus)

Diprotodontia is an order of Australian marsupial mammals. Members of this order are called diprotodonts. Diprotodontia is the largest order of marsupials and currently comprises 140 extant species, which are grouped into 39 genera. They are found in Australia, New Guinea, and Indonesia, in forests, shrublands, grasslands, and savannas, though some species are found in deserts and rocky areas. They come in a wide array of sizes, ranging from the Tasmanian pygmy possum, at 5 cm (2 in) plus a 6 cm (2 in) tail, to the red kangaroo, at 160 cm (63 in) plus a 120 cm (47 in) tail.

Diprotodontia is subdivided into three suborders: Macropodiformes, Phalangeriformes, and Vombatiformes. Macropodiformes has 72 species in 3 families: Hypsiprymnodontidae, Macropodidae, and Potoroidae, and includes kangaroos, wallabies, bettongs, potoroos, and rat-kangaroos. Phalangeriformes has 64 species in 6 families: Acrobatidae, Petauridae, Pseudocheiridae, Tarsipedidae, Burramyidae, and Phalangeridae, and includes cuscus and the brushtail, ringtail, and gliding possums. Vombatiformes has only four species in two families: Phascolarctidae, the koala, and Vombatidae, the wombats. The classification of species in the order is not fixed, with many recent proposals for changes made based on molecular phylogenetic analysis. Additionally, the present set of suborders was created beginning in 1997 by splitting the former suborder Phalangerida into Macropodiformes and Phalangeriformes, and further reorganizations have been proposed.

In addition to the extant species, eight species in the suborder Phalangeriformes—four in the family Macropodidae and four in Potoroidae—have been made extinct in the modern era, all between the 1880s and the 1940s after the colonization of Australia began: the broad-faced potoroo, crescent nail-tail wallaby, desert bettong, desert rat-kangaroo, eastern hare-wallaby, Lake Mackay hare-wallaby, Nullarbor dwarf bettong, and toolache wallaby. Dozens of extinct, prehistoric Diprotodont species have also been discovered, though due to ongoing research and discoveries the exact number and categorization is not fixed.

Conventions

Range maps are provided wherever possible; if a range map is not available, a description of the collective range of species in that genera is provided. Ranges are based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species unless otherwise noted. All extinct genera or species listed alongside extant species went extinct after 1500 CE, and are indicated by a dagger symbol "".

Classification

Diprotodontia     Macropodiformes       Macropodidae     Potoroidae       Hypsiprymnodontidae     Phalangeriformes   Petauroidea     Acrobatidae       Tarsipedidae       Petauridae     Pseudocheiridae         Phalangeroidea     Burramyidae     Phalangeridae           Vombatiformes     Phascolarctidae     Vombatidae

The order Diprotodontia consists of 140 extant species belonging to 39 genera. This does not include hybrid species or extinct prehistoric species. Modern molecular studies indicate that the 39 genera can be grouped into 11 families; these families are grouped into the suborders Macropodiformes, Phalangeriformes, and Vombatiformes, and many are further grouped into named clades or subfamilies. In addition to the extant species, eight species in the suborder Phalangeriformes—four in the family Macropodidae and four in Potoroidae, including one extinct genus—have been made extinct in the modern era, all between the 1880s and the 1940s after the colonization of Australia began.

Suborder Macropodiformes

• Family Hypsiprymnodontidae (musky rat-kangaroo): 1 genus, 1 species
• Family Macropodidae
  • Subfamily Macropodinae (kangaroos and wallabies) 12 genera, 66 species (4 extinct)
  • Subfamily Sthenurinae (banded hare-wallaby) 1 genera, 1 species
• Family Potoroidae (bettongs, potoroos, and rat-kangaroos) 4 genera (1 extinct), 9 species (2 extinct)

Suborder Phalangeriformes

• Superfamily Petauroidea
  • Family Acrobatidae (feather-tailed possum and feather-tailed glider): 2 genera, 2 species
  • Family Petauridae (possums): 3 genera, 11 species
  • Family Pseudocheiridae
    • Subfamily Hemibelideinae (greater gliders): 2 genera, 2 species
    • Subfamily Pseudocheirinae (ringtail possums): 3 genera, 11 species
    • Subfamily Pseudochiropsinae (ringtail possums): 1 genus, 5 species
  • Family Tarsipedidae (honey possum): 1 genus, 1 species
• Superfamily Phalangeroidea
  • Family Burramyidae (pygmy possums): 2 genera, 5 species
  • Family Phalangeridae
    • Subfamily Ailuropinae (bear cuscus): 1 genus, 2 species
    • Subfamily Phalangerinae (cuscus): 5 genera, 25 species

Suborder Vombatiformes

• Family Phascolarctidae (koala): 1 genus, 1 species
• Family Vombatidae (wombats): 2 genera, 3 species

Diprotodonts

The following classification is based on the taxonomy described by Mammal Species of the World (2005), with augmentation by generally accepted proposals made since using molecular phylogenetic analysis, as supported by both the IUCN and the American Society of Mammalogists.

Sources

• Mammal Species of the World. 1 (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. 2005. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. 
• Menkhorst, Peter; Knight, Frank (2011). A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-557395-4. 
• Nowak, Ronald M. (2018). Walker's Mammals of the World. Monotremes, Marsupials, Afrotherians, Xenarthrans, and Sundatherians. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-1-4214-2468-2. 
• Nowak, Ronald M. (2005). Walker's Marsupials of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8222-7. 
• Tree Kangaroos: Science and Conservation. Elsevier. 2020. ISBN 978-0-12-814675-0. 
• Richardson, Ken (2012). Australia's Amazing Kangaroos: Their Conservation, Unique Biology and Coexistence with Humans. CSIRO Publishing. ISBN 978-0-643-09739-1. 
• Strahan, Ronald (1995). Mammals of Australia. Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 978-1-56098-673-7. 
• Taylor, Barbara (2022). The Magnificent Book of Extinct Animals. Weldon Owen. ISBN 978-1-68188-737-1.