<
https://theconversation.com/we-found-three-new-species-of-extinct-giant-kangaroo-and-we-dont-know-why-they-died-out-when-their-cousins-survived-227857>
"For millions of years, giant animals or megafauna roamed the lands that are
now Australia and New Guinea. Many were like much larger versions of modern
animals.
There was a four-metre goanna called Megalania (
Varanus priscus), for
example, which likely ambushed its prey. This beast disappeared by around
40,000 years ago along with almost all the other megafauna aside from remnants
such as the red kangaroo and the saltwater crocodile.
Some of the now-vanished kangaroo species were quite massive. The short-faced
kangaroo
Procoptodon goliah grew as tall as three metres and may have weighed
more than 250 kilograms.
There was another genus of extinct kangaroos,
Protemnodon, which were more
like the grey and red roos we know today, but little has been known about their
lives. In a new study, my colleagues and I describe three new species of these
vanished marsupials – and shed some light on where they lived and how they got
around."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
