Extinct kangaroo could climb trees with its enormous claws

A new study describes a “semi-boreal kangaroo” who lived in Australia 40,000 years ago. Apparently, even hopping can get boring.

According to the study published this week in Royal Society Open Science, the discovery of fossils excavated decades ago in the Mammo in Western Australiath Cave and the Thylacoleo Caves system. The skulls, teeth and skeletons of the two extinct marsupials originally identified as an Ice Age wallaby, Wallabia kitcheneriThe researchers say it is physically different, however, and ininstead assign the fossils to the genus Congruus, which was previously just occupied by one fossil wallaby, But the right one follows. They call the newly identified animal But good kitcheneri

“This discovery is another reminder of how little we understand even the relatively recent geologic past in Australia,” said study co-author Gavin Prideaux, a paleontologist at Flinders University in Australia, at Murdoch University press release

Just as vast areas of the Northern Hemisphere were covered with miles of ice sheets during the Pleistocene, so much of Australia that is now dry was once forested and grassy. So a tasty habitat for an animal that was according to the study authors a herbivore with a long neck.

Many of Australia’s paleontological discoveries come from its cave networks, which have to offer lively investigates the biodiversity of the Pleistocene. While the team distinguished this species by its skull and dental features, they were given clues to its behavior from the ground up.limbs. Her humerus and ulna suggested the animal was extremely muscular (it had big pecs), had increased range of motion that would allow it to raise its arms above its head (think: have you ever seen a modern-day kangaroo throw up?), and had large hands with huge, curved claws. (Curvature in numbers is put forward as an adjustment to engage branches other species, also.)

“This is really interesting, not just from the point of view of unexpected tree climbing behavior in a large wallaby, but also because these specimens come from an area that is now barren, ”said study co-author Natalie Warburton, a paleontologist at Murdoch University in Perth, in the same publication. “The habitat and environment in the area were really different from what they are today, and perhaps different from what we have previously interpreted before then.”

Oother finds of marsupial fossils in Australian caves likewise point to aspiralives (or at least food) above the ground. Marsupials generally have extremely robust upper bodies, such as the jelly bean-like baby marsupials, which are less developed than other mAmmals, must crawl into their parents’ pouch to continue their development. The recently described species is the latest evidence of the marsupial’s enduring evolutionary devotion to its upper body.

But good kitcheneri wouldn’t be the only kangaroo to master tree climbing. That cloak is worn today by the 14 kinds of bizarre cute tree kangaroos, which look like they started a joint evolutionary venture with red pandas and lemurs. The fossil kangaroo developed its tree climbing characteristics separately, the authors said, meaning two groups of kangaroos learned to climb independently.

The newly described species was only semi-arboreal and is said to have moved slowlyrough the trees, the researchers said. But for a creature five times larger than live tree kangaroos, it’s not a bad track record at all.