The Rise of Australian Marsupials:

A Synopsis of Biostratigraphic,
Phylogenetic, Palaeoecologic and
Palaeobiogeographic Understanding

Karen H. Black, Michael Archer, Suzanne J. Hand,

and Henk Godthelp

Abstract
The origins, evolution and palaeodiversity of Australia’s unique marsupial fauna
are reviewed. Australia’s marsupial fauna is both taxonomically and ecologi-
cally diverse comprising four extant orders (Dasyuromorphia, Peramelemorphia,
Notoryctemorphia and Diprotodontia) and one extinct order (Yalkaparidontia).
Molecular divergence dates estimate a Palaeocene origin for the Australian marsu-
pial orders yet ordinal differentiation is obscured by significant gaps in the fossil
record with a single terrestrial mammal-bearing deposit known between the late
Cretaceous and the late Oligocene. This deposit, the 55 million-year-old early Eocene
Tingamarra Local Fauna of southeastern Queensland, contains Australia’s oldest mar-
supial (Superorder Australidelphia) as well as taxa tentatively interpreted to represent
South American groups (Order Polydolopimorphia). Palaeobiogeographic hypothe-
ses regarding the distribution and interordinal relationships of Australian and South
American marsupials are discussed. Dasyuromorphia and Peramelemorphia were
possibly also present in the early Eocene, Diprotodontia in at least the late Oligocene
and Notoryctemorphia and Yalkaparidontia in the early Miocene. Palaeobiodiversity
was highest during the early to middle Miocene as evidenced by a spectacular
array of marsupial groups in the rainforest assemblages of the Riversleigh World
Heritage Area. The onset of icehouse conditions during the middle Miocene saw
significant faunal turnover with loss of many archaic groups and the emergence
of a range of modern lineages. Few deposits of late Miocene age are known.
Development of Australia’s first grasslands and arid habitats occurred in the Pliocene,
accompanied by an explosive radiation of grazing kangaroos. The Pleistocene was
characterised by severe and unpredictable climatic conditions and the extinction of
the Australian megafauna. Lowered sea levels allowed faunal interchange between
mainland Australia and neighbouring New Guinea as well as the arrival of the

K.H. Black ()

Evolution of Earth and Life Sciences Research Group, School
of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of
New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
e-mail: k.black@unsw.edu.au

J.A. Talent (ed.), Earth and Life, International Year of Planet Earth, 983
DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3428-1_35, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012