caa a22 4500 388016760 CHVBK 20180307124913.0 cr unu---uuuuu 161130e199807 xx s 000 0 eng 10.1017/S0022336000040439 doi S0022336000040439 pii (NATIONALLICENCE)cambridge-10.1017/S0022336000040439 The skull of Ekaltadeta ima (Marsupialia, Hypsiprymnodontidae?): An analysis of some marsupial cranial features and a re-investigation of propleopine phylogeny, with notes on the inference of carnivory in mammals [Elektronische Daten] [Stephen Wroe, Jenni Brammall, Bernard N. Cooke] The near-complete skull of the Giant Rat-kangaroo Ekaltadeta ima is described from a middle Miocene deposit at Riversleigh, north western Queensland. Surprisingly, the results of phylogenetic analysis indicate no special relationship with the only other hypsiprymnodontids for which substantial cranial material is known (Hypsiprymnodon moschatus, H. bartholomaii), but within Macropodoidea, a number of derived features present in E. ima are found only in another extinct taxon, the Balbarinae. Recent studies have suggested that Balbarinae may not represent a basal macropodid clade as thought by most previous authors and furthermore that the subfamily is perhaps distinct from all other kangaroos. In light of these findings an interesting possibility is noted, i.e., that Propleopinae and Balbarinae may represent a monophyletic clade to the exclusion of all other taxa. Preliminary results of investigation into dietary habitus indicate that Propleopinae represents a radiation of medium- to large-sized omnivorous kangaroos. Within this clade it is reiterated that a tendency toward carnivory might be inferred from the relative importance of high amplitude vertical shearing versus horizontal shearing and/or crushing elements in the dentition. Copyright © The Paleontological Society Wroe Stephen School of Biological Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia, <P8406332@vmsuser.acsu.unsw.edu.au> aut Brammall Jenni School of Biological Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia, <P8406332@vmsuser.acsu.unsw.edu.au> aut Cooke Bernard N. School of Life Science, Queensland University of Technology, Garden's Point Campus GPO Box 2434, Brisbane 4001, Australia aut Journal of Paleontology Cambridge University Press 72/4(1998-07), 738-751 0022-3360 72:4<738 1998 72 JPA https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022336000040439 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022336000040439 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Wroe Stephen School of Biological Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia, <P8406332@vmsuser.acsu.unsw.edu.au> aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Brammall Jenni School of Biological Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia, <P8406332@vmsuser.acsu.unsw.edu.au> aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Cooke Bernard N. School of Life Science, Queensland University of Technology, Garden's Point Campus GPO Box 2434, Brisbane 4001, Australia aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Journal of Paleontology Cambridge University Press 72/4(1998-07), 738-751 0022-3360 72:4<738 1998 72 JPA CC0 http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0 nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-cambridge