Warendja

{{Short description|Extinct genus of marsupials}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Late Miocene—Late Pleistocene

| image =

| image_caption =

| taxon = Warendja

| authority = Hope and Wilkinson, 1982

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision =

• Warendja wakefieldi (Hope and Wilkinson, 1982)
• Warendja encorensis (Brewer et al., 2007)

}}

Warendja is an extinct genus of wombat. It is known from two species, W. encorensis from the Late Miocene Riversleigh site in Queensland,Brewer, P., M. Archer, S. Hand, and H. Godthelp. 2007. A new species of the wombat Warendja from late Miocene deposits at Riversleigh, northwest Queensland, Australia. Palaeontology 50:811–828. and W. wakefieldi known from the Pleistocene of South Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria. The two species are primarily distinguished by features of their enamel. It became extinct as part of the Quaternary extinction event.{{Cite journal|last1=Hope|first1=J H|last2=Wilkinson|first2=H E|title=Warendja wakefieldi, a new genus of wombat (Maruspialia , Vombatidae) from Pleistocene sediments in McEacherns Cave, western Victoria|url=http://direct.biostor.org/reference/103275|journal=Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria|language=en|volume=43|access-date=2017-04-20|archive-date=2019-11-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191108125812/http://direct.biostor.org/reference/103275|url-status=dead}}{{Cite journal|last=Brewer|first=Philippa|date=2007-06-01|title=New record of Warendja wakefieldi (Vombatidae; Marsupialia) from Wombeyan Caves, New South Wales|journal=Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology|volume=31|issue=2|pages=153–171|doi=10.1080/03115510701305132|bibcode=2007Alch...31..153B |s2cid=129848516|issn=0311-5518}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LwMkO0M1mPQC&dq=Warendja+wakefieldi&pg=PA116|title=Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea: One Hundred Million Years of Evolution|last1=Long|first1=John A.|last2=Archer|first2=Michael|date=2002-01-01|publisher=UNSW Press|isbn=9780868404356|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zzW70nyLLXUC&dq=Warendja+wakefieldi&pg=PA1040|title=Earth and Life: Global Biodiversity, Extinction Intervals and Biogeographic Perturbations Through Time|last=Talent|first=John A.|date=2012-06-28|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9789048134281|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/164342858?versionId=179167759|title=The weird wonderful wombat Warendja Wakefieldi Hope & Wilkinson - Version details|website=Trove|language=en|access-date=2017-04-20}} Warendja wakefieldi is estimated to have weighed about 10 kg, considerably smaller than living wombats.{{Cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=C. N. |last2=Prideaux |first2=G. J. |date=October 2004 |title=Extinctions of herbivorous mammals in the late Pleistocene of Australia in relation to their feeding ecology: No evidence for environmental change as cause of extinction: EXTINCTION OF AUSTRALIAN MEGAFAUNA |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1442-9993.2004.01389.x |journal=Austral Ecology |language=en |volume=29 |issue=5 |pages=553–557 |doi=10.1111/j.1442-9993.2004.01389.x|url-access=subscription }} Warendja thought to be relatively basal amongst wombats,{{Cite journal |last1=Louys |first1=Julien |last2=Duval |first2=Mathieu |last3=Beck |first3=Robin M. D. |last4=Pease |first4=Eleanor |last5=Sobbe |first5=Ian |last6=Sands |first6=Noel |last7=Price |first7=Gilbert J. |date=November 2022 |editor-last=Hautier |editor-first=Lionel |title=Cranial remains of Ramsayia magna from the Late Pleistocene of Australia and the evolution of gigantism in wombats (Marsupialia, Vombatidae) |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/spp2.1475 |journal=Papers in Palaeontology |language=en |volume=8 |issue=6 |doi=10.1002/spp2.1475 |bibcode=2022PPal....8E1475L |issn=2056-2799|hdl=10072/420259 |hdl-access=free }} being the most primitive member to possess hypselodont (high crowned) cheek teeth. The morphology of the humerus of W. wakefieldi suggests that it engaged in scratch-digging.{{Cite journal |last1=Brewer |first1=Philippa |last2=Archer |first2=Michael |last3=Hand |first3=Suzanne |last4=Price |first4=Gilbert |date=2018 |title=A new species of Miocene wombat (Marsupialia, Vombatiformes) from Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia, and implications for the evolutionary history of the Vombatidae |url=https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2018/2245-new-rhizophascolonus-species |journal=Palaeontologia Electronica |doi=10.26879/870|hdl=10141/622528 |hdl-access=free }}