Sthenurus

Sthenurus
Temporal range:
Disarticulated Sthenurus sp. skeleton at the Museum of Victoria
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Suborder: Macropodiformes
Family: Macropodidae
Subfamily: †Sthenurinae
Tribe: †Sthenurini
Genus: †Sthenurus
(Owen, 1873a)
Paleospecies
  • †Sthenurus andersoni
  • †Sthenurus atlas
  • †Sthenurus maddocki
  • †Sthenurus newtonae
  • †Sthenurus occidentalis
  • †Sthenurus oreas
  • †Sthenurus orientalis
  • †Sthenurus pales
  • †Sthenurus stirlingi
  • †Sthenurus tindalei

Sthenurus ("strong tail") is an extinct genus of kangaroos. With a length around 3 m (10 ft), some species were twice as large as modern extant species. Sthenurus was related to the better-known Procoptodon. The subfamily Sthenurinae is believed to have separated from its sister taxon, the Macropodinae (kangaroos and wallabies), halfway through the Miocene, and then its population grew during the Pliocene.

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