Macropus (Macropus) cf. giganteus, Shaw, 1790

Piper, Katarzyna J., 2016, The Macropodidae (Marsupialia) of the early Pleistocene Nelson Bay Local Fauna, Victoria, Australia, Memoirs of Museum Victoria 74, pp. 233-253 : 234

Macropus (Macropus) cf. giganteus titan Shaw, 1790

Referred material. NMV P216235a, right I3; NMV P200668, right I3; NMV P216039, talonid left M; NMV P216038, talonid left M; NMV P216043, lingual half metaloph right M; NMV P218244, metaloph left M; NMV P200697, left dp2; NMV P173634, partial left dentary containing m1–4; NMV P215983, left m2 and m3; NMV P200664, talonid left m; NMV P200583, partial right femur shaft and distal epiphysis; NMV P215912, partial femur shaft; NMV P215913, partial left femur shaft; NMV P200569, partial left fifth metatarsal; NMV P216124, partial left fifth metatarsal; NMV P216167, distal manus phalanx; NMV P173673, caudal vertebra; NMV P200559, partial dorsal vertebra; NMV P200560, partial dorsal vertebra; NMV P200561, partial rib and vertebra centrum; NMV P200582, anterior caudal vertebra; NMV P216232, three dorsal vertebrae and two partial anterior caudal vertebrae; NMV P216233, partial sacrum.

Remarks. Only a few isolated dental and postcranial elements indicate the presence of a large grazing macropodid in the Nelson Bay assemblage ( fig. 2 ). The partial left dentary figured and described in Hann (1983) ( NMV P173634) is missing from the Museum Victoria collections and so could not be examined. The features of the lower molars are consistent with those contained within the missing partial dentary described by Hann (1983), and so are judged to belong to the same species. The molars are much larger than the extant Macropus giganteus , falling within the size range of the larger fossil Macropus giganteus titan from Lancefield, Lake Colongulac, Spring Creek (Minhamite) and Queensland ( Flannery, 1981), and in the case of NMV P215983 are towards the high end of this range. The premolar and incisors fall within the size ranges of both extant and fossil specimens, as do two Macropus metatarsals. Therefore, overall it seems that the Nelson Bay specimens represent the larger Macropus giganteus titan typical of the Late Pleistocene, indicating that the increase in body size experienced by this species had already occurred by the early Pleistocene.

Figures

Figure 2. Macropus (Macropus) giganteus titan: a, NMV P2000668, right I3, labial view; b, NMV P216235a, right I3, labial view; c, NMV P200697, left dp2, occlusal view; d. NMV P216039, talonid left M, occlusal view; e–g, NMV P215983, left m2, occlusal, labial and lingual views; h–j, left m3, occlusal, labial and lingual views. k, l, NMV P200569, left fifth metatarsal, medial and lateral views; m, NMV P216124, partial left fifth metatarsal, lateral view; n, o, NMV P200582, caudal vertebra, dorsal and lateral views; p, q, NMV P200583, right femur shaft and distal epiphysis. Scale bars = 10 mm.