Bohra nullarbora sp. nov., a second tree-kangaroo (Marsupialia: Macropodidae) from the Pleistocene of the Nullarbor Plain, Western Australia

WA Museum Records and Supplements | Updated 8 years ago

ABSTRACT – Bohra nullarbora sp. nov. is described from a partial skeleton collected from a diverse Pleistocene vertebrate assemblage preserved in Leaena’s Breath Cave, Nullarbor Plain, Western Australia. It is distinguished from its Nullarbor contemporary, B. illuminata, by having different cranial proportions, smaller cheek teeth and a relatively narrower upper premolar. It also differs in a number of postcranial attributes, which may reflect slight variation in locomotory capabilities. The unexpected discovery that, in the relatively recent geological past, two large arboreal kangaroos inhabited the now ‘Treeless’ Plain effectively highlights how little we still know about the Pleistocene history of Western Australia, and of the drier regions of the continent in general.