<
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/apr/29/unlike-anything-today-gippsland-fossil-unlocks-secrets-of-kangaroo-that-died-out-46000-years-ago>
"When a caver and Gippsland local, Joshua Van Dyk, stumbled across the
fossilised remains of a kangaroo species that had been extinct for about 46,000
years, it seemed as though the macropod was making eye contact with him.
“It had fallen behind some rocks … and was looking straight at me,” Joshua
recalls of the 2011 discovery he made in a cave near Buchan in east Gippsland.
“I knew it was something significant … especially as I could see a lot more of
the body behind the skull.”
A decade later scientists at Museums Victoria have recovered the remaining
skeleton of what they now know was a young
Simosthenurus occidentalis, also
known as the short-faced kangaroo.
They suspect the animal died after falling into a concealed cave entrance a
couple of thousand years before the species went extinct.
The fossil is one of the most intact skeletons of an extinct animal found in
Australia, and the most complete skeleton found in a Victorian cave. It
retained 71% of the animal’s bones, only missing small parts of the paws.
Tim Ziegler, a Museums Victoria Research Institute palaeontologist who led the
excavation, says fossils of “this quality and completeness are extremely rare
in Australia”.
It’s discovery is helping unlock the secret lifestyle of this long extinct
animal.
“We can now learn what they were capable of doing,” Ziegler says."
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
