Wakaleo


Wakaleo was a genus of medium-sized thylacoleonids that lived in Australia in the late Oligocene and Miocene epochs.
Although much smaller than its close relative the marsupial lion, Wakaleo would have been a successful hunter. It had teeth specially designed for cutting and stabbing. The genus is from an extinct family of Vombatiformes, so is distantly related to the herbivorous wombats.

Taxonomy

Wakaleo was erected in 1974 by W. A. Clemens and M. Plane. Five species are known:
Wakaleo is a genus of the thylacoleonid family of predatory mammals, which are known as marsupial lions. The size of Wakaleo species increases from smaller animals in the early part of the fossil record, an apparent morphocline that terminated in a predator able to kill animals much larger than itself.