Watutia fossil map
Where fossils of Watutia 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 | 3.6–2.58 million years ago (Piacenzian) |
| Periods | Neogene |
| Family | Macropodidae |
| Named by | Flannery et al. 1989 |
| Fossil records | 2 occurrences at 1 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Papua New Guinea |
| Rock formations | Otibanda |
About Watutia
Watutia is an extinct genus of fossil kangaroo known from the Pliocene from New Guinea. It is only known from the type species Watutia novaeguineae, known from some fragmentary upper and lower jaws and isolated teeth from the Pliocene Otibanda Formation in the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The closest relative of the genus was possibly Hadronomas, who lived in today's Queensland a few million years earlier. W. novaeguineae was about the size of a large shrub wallaby (Dorcopsis) and differs in some characteristics from the teeth of other kangaroos. The molars were low and the first premolars elongated. Cristids obliqua and posterior cingula are missing on the lower molars. The feature that defines the close association with Hadronomas was the upper first premolar, which was more bulbous with no lingual cingulum, differing it from most Macropods.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Watutia (revision 1370404781), 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: Q18155971.
