''Priscakoala'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the ...

from the

Early Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages: the Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 Ma to 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago). It was p ...

of Riversleigh, Australia. As cited in It has one species: ''Priscakoala lucyturnbullae''. The prefix "''prisca''" comes from the Latin meaning old, ancient, primeval or primitive. It was used to indicate that this genus is one of the oldest and simplest form of the koala. The species ''P. lucyturnbullae'' was named for

Lucy Turnbull Lucinda Mary Turnbull AO (née Hughes; born 30 March 1958) is an Australian businesswoman, philanthropist, and former local government politician. She served on the Sydney City Council from 1999 to 2004, including as Lord Mayor of Sydney from ...

a businesswoman, wife of former Prime Minister

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull gra ...

, and supporter of the research that discovered the genus.

References

Prehistoric vombatiforms Koalas Prehistoric marsupial genera Miocene mammals of Australia Miocene marsupials Riversleigh fauna {{Diprotodont-stub