Nimiokoala

Nimiokoala
Temporal range:
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Phascolarctidae
Genus: †Nimiokoala
Black and Archer, 1997
Species:
†N. greystanesi
Binomial name
†Nimiokoala greystanesi
Black and Archer, 1997

Nimiokoala greystanesi is an extinct marsupial, closely related to the extant koala, that inhabited northwestern Queensland in the Early and Middle subepochs of the Miocene (23–16 million years ago). It is the only species assigned to the genus Nimiokoala. Along with species of sister genus Litokoala, it is the smallest representative of family Phascolarctidae. Based on cladistic analysis, Nimiokoala is one of the more basal genera of Phascolarctidae. It died out due to climate change rendering the environment more arid. It probably had a more generalized diet than that of the modern species, but its exact food preferences are unknown.

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