Thylacoleo Revealed - A Natural History of the Marsupial Lion - Thylacoleonid Genera and Species: Tertiary Genera (page 2)

THYLACOLEONID GENERA AND SPECIES:
- TERTIARY GENERA -
(page 2)

Wakaleo:
Late Miocene

Members of the genus Wakaleo were approximately the size of a dingo or other medium-sized dog, and possibly reaching the size of a small leopard.

Wakaleo alcootaensis:

This species comes from the Alcoota Local Fauna of the Northern Territory. It was slightly larger in size than W. oldfieldi and W. vanderleueri (see below). The sole representative fossil of this species (a fragmentary maxilla) was found in 1974 in the Miocene Waite Formation (Alcoota Local Fauna) by Dr. Michael Archer.

The maxillary fragment shown at right is the holotype (the single specimen designated by an author as the type of a species) of W. alcootaensis.

Holotype specimen of Wakaleo alcootaensis.

Wakaleo oldfieldi:

In 1971, a group of paleontologists, working in the Miocene Wipijiri Formation (Kutjamarpu Local Fauna, South Australia) discovered a nearly complete left dentary of this species which retained a number of rather well preserved teeth. A small number of isolated teeth have also been found.

Illustrated is the mandible described above.

Mandible of Wakaleo oldfieldi.

Wakaleo vanderleueri:

The first fossil material of this species (a right dentary fragment) was found in 1967 by a group of field workers from the Bureau of Mineral Resources working in the Miocene Camfield Beds of the Northern Territory (Bullock Creek local fauna). Since then, a number of additional specimens have been discovered. Among these is the nearly complete cranium with associated, partial mandible shown in the photograph at right.

Skull of Wakaleo vanderleueri.

life reconstruction of Wakaleo vanderleueri - Anne Musser

A life reconstruction of Wakaleo vanderleueri. Courtesy: Anne Musser.