page_title: Macropodidae
section_title: Fossil record
hierarchical_section_title: Macropodidae / Fossil record
caption_attribution_description: English: Sthenurus stirlingi, Pleistocene of Australia. Digital.
context_page_description: Macropodidae is a family of marsupials, commonly known as kangaroos, wallabies, tree-kangaroos, wallaroos, pademelons, quokkas, and several other terms. These genera are allied to the suborder Macropodiformes, containing other macropods, and are native to the Australian continent, New Guinea and nearby islands.
context_section_description: The evolutionary ancestors of marsupials split from placental mammals during the Jurassic period about 160 million years ago (Mya). The earliest known fossil macropod dates back about 11.61 to 28.4 Mya, either in the Miocene or Late Oligocene, and was uncovered in South Australia. Unfortunately, the fossil could not be identified any further than the family. A Queensland fossil of a species similar to Hadronomas has been dated at around 5.33 to 11.61 Mya, falling in the Late Miocene or Early Pliocene. The earliest completely identifiable fossils are from around 5.33 Mya.
caption: Sthenurus strilingi
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