A group of researchers have identified three new extinct species of prehistoric giant kangaroos that inhabited Australia, the island of Tasmania and the island of New Guinea at least more than 40,000 years ago. For this study, which was published in the scientific journal Megataxa, the scientists took and performed three-dimensional scans of 800 fossil specimens found in Australia and New Guinea, and then took measurements, compared the specimens and described them, in a work that lasted five years. .
The largest species identified was Protemnodon viator (traveler, in Latin), which had long limbs, strong muscles and weighed about 170 kilograms. This beast, which was twice the size of a male red kangaroo, adapted “very well” to the arid landscapes of the Australian desert, Flinders University explains in a statement.
Another of the extinct species identified is the Protemnodon mamakurra, a large kangaroo with a robust and thick build (although a little smaller than the viator), which inhabited the southern and southeastern coast of Australia, as well as the mountains of the island of Tasmania.
The Mamakurra, which means big kangaroo in one of the Aboriginal languages, was probably slow and inefficient, and “it is possible that it jumped rarely, perhaps only when startled,” said lead author Isaac Kerr.
The third extinct species identified is Protemnodon dawsonae (named after Australian paleontologist Lyndall Dawson), which was a medium-speed jumping kangaroo whose characteristics are less known due to less data being available about its past.
The work revealed that these three species of the extinct genus Protemnodon adapted to the different prehistoric habitats in which they lived. “For example, it is now known that different species of Protemnodon inhabited a wide range of habitats, from the arid central Australia to the forested mountains of Tasmania and New Guinea, where there is high rainfall,” Kerr explained.
These protemnodon kangaroos, which would have inhabited the planet up to five million years ago, also moved in different ways, something that contradicts previous research that suggested that these were quadrupeds.
“Our study suggests that this is true for only three or four species of Protemnodon, which may have moved somewhat like a quokka or a potoroo (animals endemic to Australia), that is, jumping on four legs at times, and jumping on two other legs,” continues the main author.
Despite their differences in size, adaptations, habitat and geographical distribution, protemnodons, along with other related animals, became extinct about 40,000 years ago in continental Australia, although they survived a little longer in New Guinea and Tasmania.
“Then, the island of New Guinea and mainland Australia were connected by land routes since water levels were much lower, allowing several giant animals to enter the Papuan forests until the emergence of the Torres Strait Islands” said Gavin Prideaux, co-author of this study in the Flinders University statement.
