Temporal range: Middle Miocene - Recent The Vombatiformes are
one of the three suborders of the large marsupial order
Diprotodontia. Five of the seven known families within this
suborder are extinct; only the families Phascolarctidae, with
the koala, and Vombatidae, with three extant species of wombat,
survive. Among the extinct families are the Diprotodontidae,
which include the diprotodon, believed by many to be the
inspiration for the bunyip. "Vombatiformes" is neo-Latin for
"wombat-shaped things", and took its name from its type family.
The suborder Vombatiformes, with its closely related members and
their compact body form, contrasts with the other two
diprotodont suborders, the Macropodiformes: kangaroos, wallabies
and quokkas; and the Phalangeriformes: possums, including the
gliders like the wrist-winged gliders. The Koala and wombats are
believed by many biologists to share a common ancestor and to
have diverged only recently in the Cenozoic. - Family †Maradidae
- Family Phascolarctidae: koala (one mo