Marada arcanum is a species of Vombatiformes discovered in 2001 at the Oligocene Hiatus Site at Riversleigh. It is the only member of the genus Marada. It exhibits plesiomorphic and apomorphic features making the determination of its taxonomic placement difficult. It has been placed within its own family, Maradidae. The specimen consists of the right dentary, with the first incisor but missing the crown, the whole of the horizontal ramus with intact premolar three and molars one to four. The posterior is missing the coronoid process, the articular condyle and the angular process.[1]
| Marada arcanum Temporal range: Upper Oligocene
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Diprotodontia |
| Superfamily: | Vombatoidea |
| Family: | †Maradidae Black, 2007 |
| Genus: | †Marada Black, 2007 |
| Species: | †M. arcanum
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| Binomial name | |
| †Marada arcanum Black, 2007
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The new species, genus, and family were described in 2007 by the Australian palaeontologist Karen Black[2]
References
edit- ^ K. Black (2007). "Maradidae: a new family of vombatomorphian marsupial from the late Oligocene of Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland" (PDF). Alcheringa. 31: 17–32. doi:10.1080/03115510601123601. ISSN 0311-5518. S2CID 37231758.
- ^ "Dr Karen Black". www.wakaleo.net. Retrieved 3 August 2019.