Tingamarra Chulpasia (Chulpasia species)
Tingamarra Chulpasia.
Illustration: A Musser © Australian Museum.
Lived: 55 million years ago (early Eocene)
Size: Length (head and body): 20cm
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.
