Murrayglossus is an extinct echidna from the Pleistocene of Western Australia. It contains a single species, Murrayglossus hacketti, also called Hackett's giant echidna. Though only from a few bones, researchers suggest that Murrayglossus was the largest monotreme to have ever lived, measuring around 1 metre (3.3 ft) long and weighing around 20–30 kilograms (44–66 lb).[1][2] Historically treated as a species of long-beaked echidnas,[1][3] it was separated into its own genus Murrayglossus in 2022. The generic name combines the last name of paleontologist Peter Murray and glossus, the Greek word for "tongue".[2]
^ abAugee, M. L.; Gooden, B.; Musser, A. (January 2006). Echidna: Extraordinary Egg-laying Mammal. Csiro Publishing. pp. 18–20. ISBN 978-0-643-09204-4. OCLC 65199910.
^ abFlannery, T. F.; Rich, T. H.; Vickers-Rich, P.; Ziegler, T.; Veatch, E. G.; Helgen, K. M. (2022). "A review of monotreme (Monotremata) evolution". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 46: 3–20. doi:10.1080/03115518.2022.2025900. S2CID 247542433.
^Siegel, J. M.; Manger, P. R.; Nienhuis, R.; Fahringer, H. M.; Shalita, T.; Pettigrew, J. D. (June 1999). "Sleep in the platypus" (PDF). Neuroscience. 91 (1): 391–400. doi:10.1016/S0306-4522(98)00588-0. PMC 8760620. PMID 10336087. S2CID 18766417.
Murrayglossus is an extinct echidna from the Pleistocene of Western Australia. It contains a single species, Murrayglossus hacketti, also called Hackett's...
in Australia; M. robusta from Miocene sites in Australia. The genus Murrayglossus is known only from fossils: M. hacketti (previously classified in the...
Pleistocene (1.8–0.1 Ma) Species Zaglossus robustus Genus Murrayglossus Species Murrayglossus hacketti Genus Megalibgwilia Species Megalibgwilia ramsayi...
were smaller than a large species known from fossils in Australia, Murrayglossus. M. ramsayi fossils have been found in deposits across mainland Australia...
(egg-laying mammal) ever was the extinct long-beaked echidna species known as Murrayglossus, known from a couple of bones found in Western Australia. It was the...
description. Monotremes are arranged by size with the largest at the top. Murrayglossus hacketti was a sheep-sized echidna uncovered in Mammoth Cave in Western...
3 ft) long. The largest monotreme ever was the extinct echidna species Murrayglossus hacketti, known only from a few bones found in Western Australia. It...
Global Information
