Fossil Land Mammal from Antarctica

A fossil land mammal, apparently the first found in Antarctica, belongs to the extinct marsupial family Polydolopidae. The fossils were recovered from rocks about 40 million years old on Seymour Island, in the northern Antarctic Peninsula. The newly discovered marsupials support theories that predic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Authors: Woodburne, Michael O., Zinsmeister, William J.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 1982
Subjects:
Antarctic
Antarctic Peninsula
Seymour
Seymour Island
Antarc*
Antarctica
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.218.4569.284
https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.218.4569.284
Description
Summary:A fossil land mammal, apparently the first found in Antarctica, belongs to the extinct marsupial family Polydolopidae. The fossils were recovered from rocks about 40 million years old on Seymour Island, in the northern Antarctic Peninsula. The newly discovered marsupials support theories that predicted their former presence in Antarctica and strengthen proposals that Australian marsupials perhaps originated from South American species that dispersed across Antarctica when Australia still was attached to it, prior to 56 million years ago.

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