Phascolonus

Phascolonus is an extinct genus of giant wombat known from the Pliocene and Pleistocene of Australia. There is only a single known species, Phascolonus gigas, the largest wombat ever known to have existed, estimated to weigh as much as 200 kg or 360 kg (790 lb). It was described by Richard Owen in 1859. Phascolomys magnus is a probable junior synonym. P. gigas is distinguished from other wombats by its strap-shaped upper incisors. The cranial roof also is noticeably inwardly depressed. The species was abundant across Australia, with remains having been found in all states except Western Australia. It is suggested to have had a preference for arid and semi-arid inland habitats, with a diet consisting of a high amount of low quality vegetation. Though it likely had wide home-ranges, it probably did not stray far from fresh water sources. Abundant remains have been found in Pleistocene aged deposits from Lake Callabonna in South Australia. Unlike its living relatives, it is unlikely that Phascolonus engaged in burrowing. Phascolonus disappeared during the Late Pleistocene Quaternary extinction event around 50-40,000 years ago, together with many other large Australian animals, following the arrival of humans to the Australian continent. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that is closely related to the other giant wombat genera Ramsayia and Sedophascolomys.

Phascolonus

Bloopityboop · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
VombatidaePBDB
Diet
herbivorePBDB, for Vombatidae
Life habit
scansorialPBDB, for Marsupialia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Mammalia

Time the record covers

At least 3.4 million years on record.

The record covers at least 3.6 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 5.333 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Miocene — about 0 of 13 occurrencesPliocene — about 4 of 13 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 9 of 13 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 0 of 13 occurrences5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.3–5.1 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences5.1–4.9 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences4.9–4.7 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences4.7–4.5 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences4.5–4.3 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences4.3–4.1 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences4.1–3.9 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences3.9–3.7 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences3.7–3.5 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences3.5–3.3 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences3.3–3.1 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences3.1–2.9 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences2.9–2.7 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences2.7–2.5 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences2.5–2.3 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences2.3–2.1 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences2.1–1.9 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences1.9–1.8 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences1.8–1.6 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences1.6–1.4 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences1.4–1.2 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences1.2–972 ka Mya — about 0.4 occurrences972 ka–778 ka Mya — about 0.4 occurrences778 ka–583 ka Mya — about 0.8 occurrences583 ka–389 ka Mya — about 0.8 occurrences389 ka–194 ka Mya — about 0.8 occurrences194 ka–0 Mya — about 3 occurrences3.6 Mya129 ka5.8 Mya0 Mya

13 occurrences of Phascolonus on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

13 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

3 formations

Allingham — 19.72°S, 145.60°EKatipiri — 28.39°S, 138.32°EWyandotte — 18.77°S, 144.85°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Phascolonus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 10 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Phascolonus and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Phascolonus and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

125 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 12 sites for Phascolonus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

12 references

Each of the 13 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Phascolonus

Credit
Bloopityboop
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Photogrammetry

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Phascolonus sp. · FU:FU2804

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itVombatidae through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Owen 1872