Sthenurinae

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Cladus: Synapsida
Cladus: Eupelycosauria
Cladus: Sphenacodontia
Cladus: Sphenacodontoidea
Cladus: Therapsida
Cladus: Theriodontia
Subordo: Cynodontia
Infraordo: Eucynodontia
Cladus: Probainognathia
Cladus: Prozostrodontia
Cladus: Mammaliaformes
Classis: Mammalia
Subclassis: Trechnotheria
Infraclassis: Zatheria
Supercohors: Theria
Cohort: Metatheria
Cohors: Marsupialia
Cladus: Australidelphia
Cladus: Eomarsupialia
Ordo: Diprotodontia
Subordo: Macropodiformes

Familia: Macropodidae
Subfamilia: Sthenurinae
Genera (2): Lagostrophus – †Procoptodon – †Simosthenurus – †Sthenurus
Name

Sthenurinae Glauert, 1926
References

Sthenurinae in Mammal Species of the World.
Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn M. (Editors) 2005. Mammal Species of the World – A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Third edition. ISBN 0-8018-8221-4.
Geol. Survey W. A. Bull. 88: 36–71.
Wilson, D.E. & Reeder, D.M. (eds.) 2005. Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore. 2 volumes. 2142 pp. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. Reference page.

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Gebändertes Hasenkänguru
English: Banded Hare-wallaby
français: Lièvre wallaby rayé

Sthenurinae (from Sthenurus, Greek for 'strong-tailed') is a subfamily within the marsupial family Macropodidae, known as 'short faced kangaroos'. No members of this subfamily are extant today, with all becoming extinct by the late Pleistocene. Procoptodon goliah, the largest macropodid known to have existed, was a sthenurine kangaroo, but sthenurines occurred in a range of sizes, with Procoptodon gilli being the smallest at the size of a small wallaby.

The short, robust skull of sthenurines is considered to be indicative that they were browsers that fed on leaves. Some species may have been able to reach above their heads and grasp branches with their semiopposable paws to assist in procuring leaves from trees. A single hoofed digit is present on the feet of sthenurines.

Taxonomy

The subfamilial arrangement Sthenurinae was circumscribed by Ludwig Glauert in 1926.[1][2]
Locomotion

Unlike modern macropodids, which hop (either bipedally or quadrupedally), sthenurines seem to have abandoned saltation as a means of locomotion. Their comparatively inflexible spines, robust hindlimb and pelvic elements, and the lack of capacity for rapid hopping suggest that these animals walked bipedally, somewhat like hominids, even converging with those primates in details of their pelvic anatomy. Furthermore, their hooved single digits and metatarsal anatomy suggest that unlike their plantigrade relatives, sthenurines were digitigrade, walking on the tips of their "toes".[3]
References

Glauert, L. (1926). "A List of Western Australian Fossils". Geological Survey of Western Australia Bulletin. 88: 38–71.
Prideaux, G.J. (2004). Systematics and evolution of the sthenurine kangaroo. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-09845-5.

Janis, CM; Buttrill, K; Figueirido, B (2014). "Locomotion in Extinct Giant Kangaroos: Were Sthenurines Hop-Less Monsters?". PLOS ONE. 9 (10): e109888. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0109888. PMC 4198187. PMID 25333823.