New study describes “semi-arboreal kangaroo” who lived 40,000 years ago in Australia. Apparently, even jumping can be boring.
According to the study, published this week, at the Royal Society Open Science, the discovery came from fossils excavated decades ago in Mammo, Western Australiath Cave and the Thylacoleo Cave system. The skulls, teeth and skeletons of the two extinguished marsupials they were originally identified as representatives of an Ice Age wallaby, Wallabia kitchen. Researchers say yes physically different, however and insideassigning fossils to the genus Congruus, which previously occupied only one fossil wallaby, But the right thing remains. They are calling the newly identified animal But proper cooking.
“This discovery provides another reminder of how little we understand even of the relatively recent geological past in Australia,” said co-author Gavin Prideaux, a paleontologist at Flinders University in Australia, at Murdoch University Press release.
Just as vast strips of the northern hemisphere were covered in miles of ice sheets during the Pleistocene, the now arid stretches of Australia were wooded and grassy. Therefore, a pleasant habitat for an animal that according to the authors of the study was a long-necked herbivore.
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Many paleontological discoveries in Australia come from their rock networks, which they offer alive analyzes Pleistocene biodiversity. Although the team distinguished this species by its cranial and dental characteristics, they obtained clues about its behavior from its front.limbs. His humerus and ulna suggested that the animal was extremely muscular (had big pecs), it had a greater range of motion that would allow him to raise his arms above his head (think, have you ever seen a modern kangaroo surrender?), and he had large hands with massive, curved claws. (The curvature in digits is presented as an adaptation to take branches to other speciestoo.)
“This is really interesting, not only from the point of view of an unexpected behavior of climbing trees in a big wallaby, but also because these specimens come from an area that is now bare of trees, “said co-author Natalie Warburton, a paleontologist at Murdoch University in Perth, in the same statement.” The habitat and environment of the areas were really different from what they are now and maybe different from what we might have interpreted earlier at the time. “
Othere are marsupial fossil finds in Australian caves similar point a aspiraations of life (or at least food) on earth. Marsupials, in general, have extremely robust upper bodies, as baby marsupials resemble jellyfish, which are born less developed than other mammals must climb into their parents ’bag to continue their development. The recently described species is the latest evidence of the marsupial’s lasting evolutionary commitment to its upper body.
But proper cooking he would not be the only kangaroo to dominate tree climbing. This mantle is worn today by the 14 adorable species of strangeness tree kangaroos, who seem to have started a joint evolutionary venture with red pandas and lemurs. The authors said the fossil kangaroo developed its climbing traits in the trees separately, meaning two groups of kangaroos learned to climb independently.
The newly described species was only semi-arboreal and would have moved slowlyaccording to researchers. But for a creature five times larger than live tree kangaroos, is not a bad trajectory at all.