''Malleodectes'' is a genus of unusual marsupial, first discovered in 2011 at Riversleigh,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. It could grow as large as a

ferret The ferret (''Mustela furo'') is a small, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae. The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), evidenced by their interfertility. Other mu ...

, and lived in the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" ...

, . The reason for its name, which means "Hammer Biter", is because it has blunt, hammer like teeth, not known from any other mammal extant or extinct. However, Scott Hocknull from the

Queensland Museum The Queensland Museum is the state museum of Queensland, dedicated to natural history, cultural heritage, science and human achievement. The museum currently operates from its headquarters and general museum in South Brisbane with specialist m ...

has noticed similarities to the modern

pink-tongued skink The pink-tongued skink (''Cyclodomorphus gerrardii'') is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. ''C. gerrardii'' is endemic to Australia, where it is also called commonly the pink-tongued lizard. As suggested by these common names, its ...

(''Cyclodomorphus gerrardii''), a reptile specialised for eating

snail A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class G ...

s. This suggests that ''Malleodectes'' too was a specialised snail hunter.

Taxonomy

The description of the new genus and two species, was published in 2011, based on fossilised type material discovered at a Riversleigh site. The type species is named ''

Malleodectes mirabilis ''Malleodectes'' is a genus of unusual marsupial, first discovered in 2011 at Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. It could grow as large as a ferret, and lived in the Miocene, . The reason for its name, which means "Hammer Biter", is because i ...

'' and the second description published as ''

Malleodectes moenia ''Malleodectes'' is a genus of unusual marsupial, first discovered in 2011 at Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. It could grow as large as a ferret, and lived in the Miocene, . The reason for its name, which means "Hammer Biter", is because it ...

''; their generic epithet combines terms derived from the Latin, ''malleo'' meaning hammer, and Ancient Greek, ''dectes'' for biter, in reference to the unusual dentition. ''Malleodectes'' was classified as the sole genus of Malleodectidae in a 2016 revision, with the family allied to

Dasyuromorphia Dasyuromorphia (, meaning "hairy tail" in Greek) is an order comprising most of the Australian carnivorous marsupials, including quolls, dunnarts, the numbat, the Tasmanian devil, and the thylacine. In Australia, the exceptions include the ...

Description

A marsupial with highly specialised dentition, an enlarged premolar with a flattened profile used to hammer open the shells of snails found in its wet forested environment. This tooth was compared by the authors to a genus of skinks, ''

Cyclodomorphus ''Cyclodomorphus'' is a genus of small to medium-sized skinks (family Scincidae)."''Cyclodomorphus'' ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org. It belongs to the ''Egernia'' group which also includes the blue-tongued skinks (Austin & Arn ...

'', and concluded this represented evolutionary convergence with the modern skinks that have similar adaptation to their diet of snails; the authors gave a generalised description of this unusual animal as a "marsupial-skink". A leading author on the research and description of the species, professor Michael Archer, said of the type species, "''Malleodectes mirabilis'' was a bizarre mammal, as strange in its own way as a koala or kangaroo …,". Fossil material associated with genus had been collected by workers at Riversleigh in the years leading to the crucial discovery of a juvenile jaw containing unerupted adult teeth. The juvenile specimen was found at a cave floor deposit with the remains of other animals, the AL90 site, and postulated to have fallen from its mother into a cave that once existed in the limestone formation.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6744125 Miocene marsupials Prehistoric mammals of Australia Riversleigh fauna Fossil taxa described in 2011 Prehistoric marsupial genera Dasyuromorphs