Bizarre lizard-like marsupials

The lizard-like marsupials have been discovered by UNSW palaeontologists in Queensland, Australia.

(PhysOrg.com) -- Fossils of bizarre lizard-like, snail-eating marsupials have been discovered by UNSW palaeontologists in an ancient fossil field in the Riversleigh World Heritage area in Queensland. The fossils date back 10 to 17 million years ago.

This ferret-size mammal - now formally named Malleodectes, meaning "hammer-biter "- had an enormous blunt tooth in each side of its upper jaw, says Dr Rick Arena, lead author of the study published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

"At first, the function of these teeth was a mystery because we were unaware of any other mammal that had hammer-teeth like this," says Dr Arena, of the UNSW Evolution of Earth & Life Systems Research Group.

That was until co-author Dr Scott Hocknull, of the Queensland Museum, noticed the striking similarities to a modern Australian lizard, the pink-tongued skink (Cyclodomorphus gerrardii).