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An artist’s influence of the newly described fossil species Protemnodon viator and its relative Protemnodon anak, when put next at scale to the residing pink kangaroo and jap gray kangaroo. Credit score: Flinders College
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An artist’s influence of the newly described fossil species Protemnodon viator and its relative Protemnodon anak, when put next at scale to the residing pink kangaroo and jap gray kangaroo. Credit score: Flinders College
Paleontologists from Flinders College have described 3 ordinary new species of big fossil kangaroo from Australia and New Guinea, discovering them extra numerous in form, vary and hopping means than prior to now idea.
The 3 new species are of the extinct genus Protemnodon, which lived from round 5 million to 40,000 years in the past—with one about double the dimensions of the most important pink kangaroo residing nowadays.
The analysis follows the invention of a couple of whole fossil kangaroo skeletons from Lake Callabonna in arid South Australia in 2013, 2018 and 2019. Those atypical fossils allowed lead researcher Dr. Isaac Kerr, then a Ph.D. pupil, to unpick a just about 150-year-long puzzle across the identities of the species of Protemnodon.
The item, “Systematics and palaeobiology of kangaroos of the overdue Cenozoic genus Protemnodon (Marsupialia, Macropodidae)” via Isaac AR Kerr, Aaron B Camens, Jacob D van Zoelen, Trevor H Worthy and Gavin J Prideaux has been printed in Megataxa.
The brand new Flinders College learn about reviewed all species of Protemnodon, discovering that they had been slightly other from one some other. The species tailored to are living in differing environments or even hopped in several tactics.
Protemnodon would have appeared one thing like a grey kangaroo, however had been normally extra squat and muscular. Whilst some species had been round 50 kg, others had been a lot greater than any residing kangaroo.
On the other hand, one new species named as a part of the newest learn about—named Protemnodon viator—used to be a lot larger, weighing as much as 170 kg. That is about two times up to the most important male pink kangaroos.
Protemnodon viator used to be well-adapted to its arid central Australian habitat, residing in an identical spaces to the pink kangaroos of nowadays. It used to be a long-limbed kangaroo that might hop moderately temporarily and successfully. Its identify, viator, is Latin for “traveler” or “wayfarer.”
A near-complete fossil skeleton of the extinct massive kangaroo Protemnodon viator from Lake Callabonna, lacking only a few bones from the hand, foot and tail. Credit score: Flinders College
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A near-complete fossil skeleton of the extinct massive kangaroo Protemnodon viator from Lake Callabonna, lacking only a few bones from the hand, foot and tail. Credit score: Flinders College
The Australian researchers found out two different new species—Protemnodon mamkurra and Protemnodon dawsonae—whilst additionally revisiting the paintings of previous researchers together with British naturalist Sir Richard Owen who coined the time period “dinosaur” in Victorian England.
The primary species of Protemnodon had been described in 1874 via British paleontologist Owen who adopted the typical way of the time, to focal point mainly on fossil tooth. He noticed slight variations between the tooth of his specimens, and described six species of Protemnodon.
Successive research have whittled away at a few of these early descriptions; then again, the brand new Flinders College learn about has the same opinion with one in every of his species, Protemnodon anak. This primary specimen described, referred to as the holotype, nonetheless is living within the Herbal Historical past Museum in London.
Dr. Kerr says it prior to now used to be advised that some or all Protemnodon had been quadrupedal. “On the other hand, our learn about means that that is true of best 3 or 4 species of Protemnodon, which could have moved one thing like a quokka or potoroo—this is bounding on 4 legs every now and then, and hopping on two legs at others.
“The newly described Protemnodon mamkurra is most likely this type of. A big however thick-boned and powerful kangaroo, it used to be most definitely moderately slow-moving and inefficient. It’s going to have hopped best hardly, possibly simply when startled.”
Dr. Kerr says the most efficient fossils of this species come from Inexperienced Waterhole Collapse southeastern South Australia, at the land of the Boandik other people. The species identify, mamkurra, used to be selected via Boandik elders and language mavens within the Burrandies Company. It way “nice kangaroo.”
It is ordinary to have a unmarried genus of kangaroo are living in such various environments, he says. “As an example, the other species of Protemnodon are referred to now to have inhabited a large vary of habitats, from arid central Australia into the high-rainfall, forested mountains of Tasmania and New Guinea.”
Palaeontologist Dr. Isaac Kerr presentations the fossil jaw of the enormous kangaroo Protemnodon viator and the a long way smaller jaw of the most important residing kangaroo, the pink kangaroo. Credit score: Flinders College
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Palaeontologist Dr. Isaac Kerr presentations the fossil jaw of the enormous kangaroo Protemnodon viator and the a long way smaller jaw of the most important residing kangaroo, the pink kangaroo. Credit score: Flinders College
The 3rd of the brand new species, Protemnodon dawsonae, is understood from fewer fossils than the opposite two, and is extra of a thriller. It used to be perhaps a mid-speed hopper, one thing like a swamp wallaby.
It used to be named in honor of the analysis paintings of Australian paleontologist Dr. Lyndall Dawson, who studied kangaroo systematics and the fossil subject matter from “Large Sink,” the a part of the Wellington Caves in NSW, from which the species is most commonly identified.
To collect information for the learn about, Dr. Kerr visited the collections of 14 museums in 4 nations and studied “on the subject of each and every piece of Protemnodon there may be.”
“We photographed and 3D-scanned over 800 specimens accumulated from everywhere Australia and New Guinea, taking measurements, evaluating and describing them. It used to be slightly the endeavor.
“It feels so excellent to in the end have it out on this planet, after 5 years of analysis, 261 pages and greater than 100,000 phrases. I in reality hope that it is helping extra research of Protemnodon occur, so we will be able to in finding out extra of what those kangaroos had been doing.
“Residing kangaroos are already such exceptional animals, so it is wonderful to suppose what those bizarre massive kangaroos may have been getting as much as.”
Whilst Protemnodon fossils are moderately commonplace throughout Australia, they’ve traditionally been discovered “remoted,” or, as person bones with out the remainder of the animal. This has hampered paleontologists’ learn about of Protemnodon prior to now, making it tricky to mention what number of species there have been, inform them aside—and the way the species differed in dimension, geographic vary, motion and diversifications to their herbal environments.
Digging up the largest-known skeleton of Protemnodon viator, a specimen nicknamed ‘Outdated Gregg’ for its nice dimension and really worn tooth, suggesting complicated age. The partial skeleton of a Diprotodon, an extinct massive marsupial, is within the foreground. Location is Tedford Locality, Lake Callabonna, northeast of the Flinders Levels in South Australia. Credit score: Aaron B Camens, Flinders College (September 2018).
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Digging up the largest-known skeleton of Protemnodon viator, a specimen nicknamed ‘Outdated Gregg’ for its nice dimension and really worn tooth, suggesting complicated age. The partial skeleton of a Diprotodon, an extinct massive marsupial, is within the foreground. Location is Tedford Locality, Lake Callabonna, northeast of the Flinders Levels in South Australia. Credit score: Aaron B Camens, Flinders College (September 2018).
By means of about 40,000 years in the past, all Protemnodon had been extinct on mainland Australia, possibly lingering some time longer in New Guinea and Tasmania. This extinction befell in spite of their variations in dimension, diversifications, habitat and geographic vary.
For causes no longer but transparent the similar didn’t occur to many an identical and intently comparable animals, reminiscent of wallaroos and grey kangaroos. This query might quickly be responded via additional analysis aided in some phase via this learn about.
“It is nice to have some readability at the identities of the species of Protemnodon,” says Flinders Professor Gavin Prideaux, a co-author of the main new article in Megataxa.
“The fossils of this genus are fashionable and they are discovered ceaselessly, however extra regularly than no longer you don’t have any method of being sure which species you are looking at. This learn about might lend a hand researchers really feel extra assured when operating with Protemnodon.”
Additional information:
Systematics and palaeobiology of kangaroos of the overdue Cenozoic genus Protemnodon (Marsupialia, Macropodidae), Megataxa (2024). DOI: 10.11646/megataxa.00.0.0
