[1] Fragments of jawbone have also been assigned to the species, along with a single piece of post-cranial material, a pelvis. [7] The species name insignis referred to the importance of the new taxon's "distinguishing mark" in the fossil record. Archer named the species "Platypus Godzilla" because it was up to twice the size of the modern platypus, growing up to three feet long. |. "The first Tertiary Monotreme from Australia. O. The roots of the molars were barely a third as high as the crown. tharalkooschild displays an annectant condition between that in species of the two genera, given the otherwise overwhelming similarity between the molars of Ob. The animal resembled the related modern platypus Ornithorhynchus but, unlike the platypus, had a bill that possessed molars as an adult. Besides its size, Obdurodon tharalkooschild was distinguished by its highly developed teeth, which it used to crush crawfish, crustaceans, small vertebrates including birds and lizards, and possibly even the occasional turtle! Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33 (6), © 2011-2021. Wear on the tooth shows that it probably crushed hard shells such as those of turtles. The new species, named Obdurodon tharalkooschild, was more than three feet long, or twice the size of a modern platypus, and had a full set of teeth to chew crayfish, frogs and small turtles. One extinct species that benifitted so much from this was Obdurodon tharalkooschild, an enormous prehistoric platypus, and without as many other mammals interfering with it, it has grown spectacularly to the comically named Platypuseal. [9], The septomaxilla (a part of the upper jawbone) of O. dicksoni is bigger than for the platypus, which supposes a hypertrophied beak. It also indicates something even more critical: the platypus family tree had branches. Based on its size, the researchers have estimated that the new species (Obdurodon tharalkooschild) would have been at least twice as large as today’s platypus. This is an artist’s reconstruction of Obdurodon tharalkooschild. The genus named was derived from Latin to describe the obdurate, that is persistent, molar which is lost in the modern platypus. Based on the size of its tooth, it is estimated that Obdurodon tharalkooschild would have been twice the size of the modern platypus, around 3.3 feet (1 m) long. The species was estimated to have been present in the middle and upper Miocene (5–15 million years ago). “Like other platypuses, it was probably a mostly aquatic mammal, and would have lived in and around the freshwater pools in the forests that covered the Riversleigh area millions of years ago,” explained Prof Suzanne Hand from the University of New South Wales, a co-author of the article published in the Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology. They were separated from the shearing crests by an area without dentition. … The description of this animal as “giant” in news reports conjured images of an animal the size of a small car, so … This indicates the mastication technique of O. dicksoni was different from that of the platypus, using the muscles anchored to these processes. Miocene Obdurodon dicksoni Archer, Jenkins, Hand, Murray, and Godthelp, 1992, from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area in Queensland. The Obdurodon differed from modern platypuses in that adult individuals retained their molar teeth (in the modern platypus, individuals lose all of their teeth upon reaching adulthood). Obdurodon tharalkooschild is thought to have inhabited fresh water and hunted for a variety of animal prey in the forests that dominated the Riversleigh site at the time of deposition. A newly discovered species of three-foot-long (one-meter-long) platypus, dubbed Obdurodon … nov. (Monotremata, Ornithorhynchidae), from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Australia. [6], The tooth was placed into the newly erected genus Obduron when described in 1975 by American palaeontologists Michael O. Woodburne and Richard H. Tedford. Hand; Michael Archer (2016). A new, giant platypus, Obdurodon tharalkooschild, sp. The inset shows its first lower molar. [12], The name given to the species was discussed in a 1990 paper by Mike Archer, an Australian mammalogist, detailing a creation story with an Ugly Duckling motif in the context of palaeontology. M. Archer, F. A. Jenkins, S. J. [4], An illustration of the species by Jeanette Muirhead, depicted on a rock in a stream within a rainforest, was published by the magazine Natural History (AMNH) in 1994. Twice the size of the platypus family Tree had branches present in the Dreamtime, Tharalkoo was a one—and! On 15 November 2020, at 11:42 otherwise overwhelming similarity between the molars were barely a third high... Was last edited on 15 November 2020, at 11:42 freshwater limestone, sometimes. Referred as the Riversleigh platypus, had a similar build to the modern platypus Ornithorhynchus but, the... [ 1 ] in total, 4 specimens are known, dating from Oligocene... [ 1 ] the diet is likely to have been crustacea, the M2 four have foraged the... 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