| Nimbacinus Temporal range: Late Oligocene to Middle Miocene
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|---|---|
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| Skull and mandible of N. dicksoni | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Dasyuromorphia |
| Family: | †Thylacinidae |
| Genus: | †Nimbacinus Muirhead & Archer, 1990 |
| Type species | |
| Nimbacinus dicksoni | |
| Other species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Nimbacinus is an extinct genus of thylacinid contains two species of carnivorous, quadrupedal marsupials in Australia both of which are extinct:
- Nimbacinus dicksoni Muirhead & Archer, 19901
- Nimbacinus peterbridgei Churchill, Archer & Hand, 20243
Like all thylacinids, Nimbacinus dicksoni was a dog-like marsupial, though its smaller size makes its appearance more comparable to that of a fox. Unlike its relatives, its jaws were likely strong enough for it to take down prey larger than itself.4
The name of the genus combines Nimba and cinus, derived from a word meaning "little" in the Wanyi language, indigenous peoples associated with the Riversleigh fossil site, and the Ancient Greek word kynos, meaning dog.1
Taxonomy
The description of N. richi was published in 2000 by researchers Peter F. Murray, working at the Museum of Central Australia and Dirk Megirian of the Northern Territory Museum.5 The holotype is fossilised material excavated at "Top Site" at the Bullock Creek fossil area, a partial left dentary with a premolar and several molars that is dated to the mid-Miocene. The specific epithet commemorates Tom Rich, who introduced the authors to the site of their discovery.5
Palaeobiology
N. dicksoni had a bite force quotient of 189, making it one of the most powerfully biting mammals relative to its size of all time.6
References
References
- Muirhead, J.; Archer, M. (1990). "Nimbacinus dicksoni, a plesiomorphic thylacine (Marsupialia: Thylacinidae) from Tertiary deposits of Queensland and the Northern Territory". Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 28: 203–221.
- Rovinsky, Douglass S.; Evans, Alistair R.; Adams, Justin W. (2019-09-02). "The pre-Pleistocene fossil thylacinids (Dasyuromorphia: Thylacinidae) and the evolutionary context of the modern thylacine". PeerJ. 7 e7457. doi:10.7717/peerj.7457. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 6727838. PMID 31534836.
- Churchill, T. J.; Archer, M.; Hand, S. J. (2024). "Three new thylacinids (Marsupialia, Thylacinidae) from late Oligocene deposits of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 44 (1). Bibcode:2024JVPal..44E4595C. doi:10.1080/02724634.2024.2384595.
- Attard, Marie R. G.; Parr, William C. H.; Wilson, Laura A. B.; Archer, Michael; Hand, Suzanne J.; Rogers, Tracey L.; Wroe, Stephen (2014). "Virtual Reconstruction and Prey Size Preference in the Mid Cenozoic Thylacinid, Nimbacinus dicksoni (Thylacinidae, Marsupialia)". PLOS ONE. 9 (4) e93088. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...993088A. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0093088. PMC 3981708. PMID 24718109.
- Murray, P.; Megirian, D. (2000). "Two New Genera and Three New Species of Thylacinidae (Marsupialia) from the Miocene of the Northern Territory, Australia". The Beagle: Occasional Papers of the Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences. 16: 145–162.
- Wroe, Stephen; McHenry, Colin; Thomason, Jeffrey (22 March 2005). "Bite club: comparative bite force in big biting mammals and the prediction of predatory behaviour in fossil taxa". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 272 (1563): 619–625. doi:10.1098/rspb.2004.2986. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 1564077. PMID 15817436. Retrieved 19 December 2025 – via The Royal Society Publishing.