Researchers have discovered the fossilized remains of a previously unknown species of giant kangaroo in a dry salt lake in South Australia. The animal, which became extinct about 40,000 years ago, was twice the size of the largest marsupial living today, the red kangaroo.
The fossil remains of the giant kangaroo, which researchers gave the Latin name Protemnodon viator (the second part of the name comes from Latin and means “traveler” or “wanderer”; note), were found in Lake Callabona, a dry salt lake . in the northeast of the Australian state of South Australia.
Because an almost complete preserved skeleton (see image below) has been found, paleontologists can also say more about its lifestyle and the way the animal moved. The species occupied habitats similar to those of the red kangaroo today; its long legs helped the animal jump efficiently and quickly, the researchers report.
Animals became extinct about 40,000 years ago
According to scientists from Flinders University in Adelaide, the giant kangaroo, which weighed as much as 170 kilograms and was three times as heavy as the red kangaroo, lived 500,000 to 40,000 years ago. It is said that it is unclear why the species became extinct and how much of this is related to the arrival of the first human settlers.
Although it was previously believed that most giant kangaroos moved on all four legs, researchers are now certain that this was the case in only three or four species, according to the Guardian.
Source: Krone
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