''Murrayglossus'' is a
genus in the family
Tachyglossidae. It contains a single species, ''Murrayglossus hacketti'', the giant echidna, an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
species of
echidna from
Western Australia that is dated to the
Pleistocene. It is known only from a few bones.
It was about long
and probably weighed about 30 kg (66 lb).
This makes it the
largest monotreme known to have ever lived. Historically treated as a species of
long-beaked echidna
The long-beaked echidnas (genus ''Zaglossus'') make up one of the two extant genera of echidnas, spiny monotremes that live in New Guinea; the other being the short-beaked echidna. There are three living species and one extinct species in this ge ...
s,
it was separated into its own genus ''Murrayglossus'' in 2022. The generic name combines the last name of paleontologist Peter Murray and ''glossus'', the Greek word for "tongue".
Description
At around long, tall and about , ''M. hacketti'' was the largest monotreme known to have existed.
''M. hacketti'' had longer, straighter legs than any of the modern echidnas. Augee (2006) speculates that this feature made the animal more adept at traversing through thickly wooded forests.
The main diagnostic characteristics of genus ''Murrayglossus'' are a set of
femoral traits: a low femoral head; the very low position of the
lesser trochanter relative to head (situated directly below the internal margin of the femur); the large
trochanter that has a high position relative to the head; a flared
medial epicondyle; and obliquely oriented
condyles.
Discoveries
Fossils of ''Murrayglossus hacketti'' were discovered in
Mammoth Cave,
Western Australia, and excavated in 1909. They were found mixed with the remains of other taxa such as ''
Sthenurus
''Sthenurus'' ("strong tail") is an extinct genus of kangaroos. With a length around 3 m (10 ft), some species were twice as large as modern extant species. ''Sthenurus'' was related to the better-known ''Procoptodon''. The subfamily S ...
'' and ''
Macropus''. Australian paleontologist
Ludwig Glauert
Ludwig Glauert MBE (5 May 1879 – 1 February 1963) was a British-born Australian paleontologist, herpetologist and museum curator. He is known for work on Pleistocene mammal fossils, and as a museum curator who played an important role i ...
described the fossils in a 1914 publication. The
specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''hacketti'' honours
John Winthrop Hackett, "as a slight acknowledgement of his generous support which alone rendered the exploration of these caves possible."
. The material is poor, mostly
vertebra and leg bones, and the cranial material is completely absent, making ''M. hackettis historical classification into the genus ''Zaglossus'' uncertain.
Some of the fossils have incisions and burn marks, suggesting that ''M. hacketti'' was at least occasionally hunted by humans.
Aboriginal rock art found in
Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...
in the
Northern Territory may represent ''M. hacketti'' or the extant
western long-beaked echidna (''Zaglossus bruijni'').
References
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2300807
Pleistocene mammals of Australia
Prehistoric monotremes
Fossil taxa described in 2022
Taxa named by Tim Flannery