The bandicoots and bilbies (Order Peramelemorphia, infraclass Marsupialia), which comprise 8 genera in 3 families, have a rodent-like appearance and occupy a wide range of habitats throughout Australia, New Guinea, Tasmania and the surrounding islands (Animal Diversity Web, https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Peramelemorphia/).
As with the Paucituberculata, the information given here is taken from the study by Beck et al (2022) that combines molecular data and craniodental morphological characters. The latter were taken solely from the cranium, mandible, and dentition because most of the fossil taxa are represented only by such craniodental material.
The phylogenetic analysis of the study by Beck et al (2022) is the basis for the following phylogenetic time tree:
As with the Paucituberculata, the information given here is taken from the study by Beck et al (2022) that combines molecular data and craniodental morphological characters. The latter were taken solely from the cranium, mandible, and dentition because most of the fossil taxa are represented only by such craniodental material.
The phylogenetic analysis of the study by Beck et al (2022) is the basis for the following phylogenetic time tree:
Figure 1. Time tree of the stem-Peramelemorphia
The oldest known member of the stem-Peramelemorphia is Bulungu palara, described from the Late Oligocene Riversleigh Faunal Zone A in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Queensland, Australia (Beck et al, 2022). Unfortunately, no public-domain images are available for this species or any of the other members of the stem group shown in Figure 1 above.
There is one species, Lemdubuoryctes aruensis, that was initially proposed to belong to the stem-Peramelemorphia (Kear et al, 2016), but it was later reinterpreted by Travouillon and Phillips (2018) to belong to the genus Peroryctes (and renamed as Peroryctes aruensis). The phylogenetic analysis carried out by Travouillon and Phillips (2018) indicates that this species belongs to the crown-Peramelemorphia.
The oldest known members of the crown-Peramelemorphia are several species of Perameles (e.g. P. bowensis, P. allinghamensis and P. wilkinsonorum) that are described from various sites of Early Pliocene age in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia (Travouillon et al, 2017). No images of these species are available in the public domain, but the extant species Perameles gunni (shown also in the header above), together with Lemdubuoryctes aruensis, are illustrated below (click on image for a latger view):
There is one species, Lemdubuoryctes aruensis, that was initially proposed to belong to the stem-Peramelemorphia (Kear et al, 2016), but it was later reinterpreted by Travouillon and Phillips (2018) to belong to the genus Peroryctes (and renamed as Peroryctes aruensis). The phylogenetic analysis carried out by Travouillon and Phillips (2018) indicates that this species belongs to the crown-Peramelemorphia.
The oldest known members of the crown-Peramelemorphia are several species of Perameles (e.g. P. bowensis, P. allinghamensis and P. wilkinsonorum) that are described from various sites of Early Pliocene age in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia (Travouillon et al, 2017). No images of these species are available in the public domain, but the extant species Perameles gunni (shown also in the header above), together with Lemdubuoryctes aruensis, are illustrated below (click on image for a latger view):
Figure 2. Images of crown-Peramelemorphia
References
Beck, R. M., Voss, R. S., & Jansa, S. A. (2022). Craniodental morphology and phylogeny of marsupials. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 457(1), 1-352.
Kear, B. P., Aplin, K. P., & Westerman, M. (2016). Bandicoot fossils and DNA elucidate lineage antiquity amongst xeric-adapted Australasian marsupials. Scientific reports, 6(1), 37537.
Travouillon, K. J., Louys, J., Price, G. J., Archer, M., Hand, S. J., & Muirhead, J. (2017). A review of the Pliocene bandicoots of Australia, and descriptions of new genus and species. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 37(5), e1360894.
Travouillon, K. J., & Phillips, M. J. (2018). Total evidence analysis of the phylogenetic relationships of bandicoots and bilbies (Marsupialia: Peramelemorphia): reassessment of two species and description of a new species. Zootaxa, 4378(2), 224-256.
Kear, B. P., Aplin, K. P., & Westerman, M. (2016). Bandicoot fossils and DNA elucidate lineage antiquity amongst xeric-adapted Australasian marsupials. Scientific reports, 6(1), 37537.
Travouillon, K. J., Louys, J., Price, G. J., Archer, M., Hand, S. J., & Muirhead, J. (2017). A review of the Pliocene bandicoots of Australia, and descriptions of new genus and species. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 37(5), e1360894.
Travouillon, K. J., & Phillips, M. J. (2018). Total evidence analysis of the phylogenetic relationships of bandicoots and bilbies (Marsupialia: Peramelemorphia): reassessment of two species and description of a new species. Zootaxa, 4378(2), 224-256.
Image credits – crown-Peramelemorphia
- Header (Eastern Barred Bandicoot, Perameles gunnii, Poimena Reserve, Austin's Ferry, Tasmania, Australia): JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/), CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
- Figure 2 (Lemdubuoryctes aruensis): Open Access article Kear, B. P., Aplin, K. P., & Westerman, M. (2016). Bandicoot fossils and DNA elucidate lineage antiquity amongst xeric-adapted Australasian marsupials. Scientific reports, 6(1), 37537.
- Figure 2 (Perameles gunni): Photo by Phil Myers. License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.