''Lekaneleo'' is a fossil genus of carnivorous marsupial that existed during the early Miocene in Australia. Once allied to the type species of the genus ''Priscileo'', later placed as '' Wakaleo pitikantensis'', ''"Priscileo" roskellyae'' was subsequently transferred to its own genus ''Lekaneleo''.

Taxonomy

The species was described by Anna Gillespie in 1997, describing material excavated at the

Riversleigh World Heritage Area Riversleigh World Heritage Area is Australia's most famous fossil location, recognised for the series of well preserved fossils deposited from the Late Oligocene to more recent geological periods. The fossiliferous limestone system is located n ...

that included a largely complete cranium and maxillary retaining some teeth and details of the alveoli. Examination of the new species included a revision of the previously monotypic genus, ''Priscileo'', known only by fragmented remains of teeth and a partial

maxilla In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxil ...

. The discovery of a new species of Riversleigh fauna allowed the genus to be revised (Gillespie, et al, 2017) to include the type to be recognised in the new combination as '' Wakaleo pitikantensis''. Subsequently Gillespie,

Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern ...

Hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the Koala#Characteristics, koala (which has two thumb#O ...

(2020) moved ''"Priscileo" roskellyae'' to a distinct genus ''Lekaneleo'', arguing that it exhibits features supporting its generic distinction within Thylacoleonidae. The specific epithet honours

Ros Kelly Roslyn Joan Kelly AO (née Raw; born 25 January 1948) is an Australian former politician. She was a member of the Australian House of Representatives, having represented the Division of Canberra from 18 October 1980 to 30 January 1995. Sh ...

, who provided support to research at Riversleigh when acting as a minister of the federal government.

Description

As one of two described species of ''Priscileo'', it is estimated to have been around two thirds the size of '' Priscileo pitikantensis''; the body mass of ''L. roskellyae'' is calculated as . The upper dental formula of this marsupial was I1–3 C1 P1–13 M 1–4. The premolar P3 is similar in form to the larger tooth in species of ''

Wakaleo ''Wakaleo'' (Diyari ''waka'', "little", "small"; and Latin ''leo'', "lion") is an extinct genus of medium-sized thylacoleonids that lived in Australia in the Late Oligocene and Miocene Epochs. Taxonomy ''Wakaleo'' was erected in 1974 by W. A ...

'', the mid-sized thylacoleonids that also existed at Riversleigh and seemed to occupy different ecological niches in the same time period. The comparative bite force of the species, along with the larger '' Thylacoleo carnifex'', is estimated to have been the greatest of any known mammal and strongly supports the conception of predators that killed animals larger than itself. The conception of the larger species P. pitikantensis'', based on extrapolations from the limb morphology, is proposed to have been an arboreal ambush predator.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q12072116, from2=Q86559389 Prehistoric vombatiforms Oligocene mammals of Australia Miocene mammals of Australia Aquitanian life Burdigalian life Chattian life Riversleigh fauna Fossil taxa described in 2020 Prehistoric marsupial genera