Tingamarra Chulpasia Click to enlarge image
Tingamarra Chulpasia, Lost Kingdom Project 2004 Image: A Musser
© Australian Museum

Fast Facts

  • Classification
    Species
    Chulpasia
  • Size Range
    Length (head and body): 20cm

Lived

55 million years ago, early Eocene.

Description

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.

Fossils

Several teeth of the Tingamarra Chulpasia were found at Murgon in south-eastern Queensland.

Did you know?

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.