Ekaltadeta fossil map
Where fossils of Ekaltadeta have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 5 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 5 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 15.98–7.246 million years ago (Langhian to Tortonian) |
| Periods | Neogene |
| Named by | Archer and Flannery 1985 |
| Fossil records | 6 occurrences at 2 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Australia |
| Rock formations | txn:NF |
About Ekaltadeta
Ekaltadeta is an extinct genus of marsupials related to the modern musky rat-kangaroos. Ekaltadeta was present in what is today the Riversleigh formations in Northern Queensland from the Late Oligocene to the Miocene, and the genus includes two species. The genus is hypothesized to have been either exclusively carnivorous, or omnivorous with a fondness for meat, based on the chewing teeth found in fossils. This conclusion is based mainly on the size and shape of a large buzz-saw-shaped cheek-tooth, the adult third premolar, which is common to all Ekaltadeta.
Fossils of the animals include two near complete skulls, and numerous upper and lower jaws.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Ekaltadeta (revision 1381150325), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q135402.
