Hypsiprmymnodntidae are a family of macropods, one of two families containing animals commonly referred to as rat-kangaroos.  There is a single known extant species in this genus, the Musky Rat-kangaroo. They lived in northern Australia and New Guinea.  The Hypsiprimymnodontidae are considered to be the most basic group of Macropodoidea.In skeletal morphology they share a number of characteristics with Potoroidae. All rat-kangaroos are closer to macropodids than to phalangerids.  The Hypsiprmymnodontidae are separated from Potoroidae by the fact that they possess two lower incisors Hypsiprymnodontidae only has one living species the  Musky Rat-kangaroo and that their squamous bones are in broad contact with the frontal.  Hypsiprmymnodontidae have been known in the fossil record since the Miocene.

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Author: Ethan M
Published: 01/2012