Bohra Flannery & Szalay, 1982

Prideaux, Gavin J. & Warburton, Natalie M., 2023, A review of the late Cenozoic genus Bohra (Diprotodontia: Macropodidae) and the evolution of tree-kangaroos, Zootaxa 5299 (1), pp. 1-95 : 21

Bohra Flannery & Szalay, 1982

Type species. Bohra paulae Flannery & Szalay, 1982 .

Revised diagnosis. Species of Bohra are distinguished from those of Dendrolagus based on the following craniodental features: larger cheek teeth relative to the size of the cranium; higher-crowned upper incisors; narrower P3, which lacks a large, distinct posterobuccal accessory cusp and deep cleft posterior to the anterior cusp of the main crest; relatively narrower molars, with a better developed postparacrista and no parametacristid. All known species of Bohra are also larger than those of Dendrolagus . Bohra most closely resembles Dorcopsis and Watutia in molar morphology, but the premetacristid, cristid obliqua and postprotocrista are less developed than in Dorcopsis , and the molars are narrower relative to their length than in Watutia .

Species of Bohra may be distinguished from those of Dendrolagus on the basis of the following postcranial features: slightly less robust humerus, with a more pronounced pectoral crest, a slightly less developed deltoid tubercle, and a larger, more projecting medial epicondyle; relatively more robust femoral diaphysis; less sinuous tibial diaphysis with a relatively longer distal fibular facet; less obliquely orientated trochlear crests and groove on the talus; shorter and more robust metatarsals IV and V.

Etymology. According to a legend of the Euahlayi people of inland eastern Australia, Bohra was a kangaroo that went about on four limbs and possessed canines before men removed them ( Parker 1953). Flannery & Szalay (1982) considered this evocative of extant tree-kangaroos, which have relatively more equally proportioned fore- and hindlimbs and retain small canines. They did not designate a gender, but with the naming of B. illuminata, Prideaux & Warburton (2008) inferred that it was feminine.

Temporal and geographic distribution. Late Pliocene of southeastern Queensland, central eastern New South Wales, northern South Australia, and Papua New Guinea. Early and/or middle Pleistocene of central eastern New South Wales and southern South Australia. Middle Pleistocene of eastern Queensland, southeastern Western Australia and northern South Australia. See Figure 1 .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Map of Australia and New Guinea showing localities that have produced fossils attributable, or potentially attributable, to species of Bohra.