Scientists Uncover a Previously Unknown Lineage of Ancient Marsupials
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The discovery of a new branch on the marsupial family tree suggests that the history of Australia’s unique mammals is more complex and less understood than previously thought.
Since marsupials reached Australia more than 55 million years ago, they have diversified into almost every kind of habitat and ecological role imaginable. Today, they range from the High Country, home to (thumb-sized possums that sleep through the winter), to the Red Center, where (little moles with pink hair and no eyes that live underground) live below the surface. In all, Australia has about 160 marsupial species, each shaped by the demands of its environment.
Yet their early history remains difficult to trace. Major gaps in the fossil record have hidden tens of millions of years of marsupial evolution, leaving scientists unsure exactly how these animals spread and diversified across the continent. A new paper published in the Journal of Paleontology now offers a rare look into that missing history.
UNSW scientists have described three new species that may point to an ancient and previously unknown order of marsupials, giving researchers fresh evidence from the early stages of marsupial evolution in Australia. “Not only is it a new order, it could also be the most ancient lineage of all Australian marsupials,” says UNSW paleontologist Dr Tim Churchill. “It may be the early ancestor of all our marsupial carnivores.” The standard explanation is that marsupials reached Australia from South America by crossing Antarctica before the breakup of Gondwana.
The details are still uncertain. Fossils dating to about 55 million years ago suggest that Australian marsupials may have come from a single lineage that later branched into the marsupial orders alive today.
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