Tingamarra Chulpasia
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Tingamarra Chulpasia, Lost Kingdom Project 2004
Image: A Musser
© Australian Museum
© Australian Museum
Fast Facts
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Classification
- Species
- Chulpasia
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- Size Range
- Length (head and body): 20cm
Tingamarra Chulpasia was the first land-based marsupial genus shared by Australia and South America, providing further evidence that the two continents were once connected. They lived 55 million years ago, early Eocene.
Identification
The Tingamarra Chulpasia was a small marsupial mammal that ate a mixed diet, possibly including seeds, small fruits and insects.
A closely-related kind of Chulpasia has been found in Peru. The two Chulpasias are part of a group of animals shared by Australia and South America when the two continents were both part of the supercontinent Gondwana.
Fossil site
Several teeth of the Tingamarra Chulpasia were found at Murgon in south-eastern Queensland.
