New Discoveries: Three Giant Kangaroo Species Unveiled by Australian Scientists

Australian scientists have described three new species of giant kangaroos, which lived between 5 million and 40,000 years ago. One of these species, the Protemnodon gameit could grow to twice the size of today’s big red male kangaroos, which can grow to 1.40 meters.

That turn out from research by paleontologists from Flinders University in the Australian city of Adelaide. They looked at kangaroo fossils found in South Australia in 2013, 2018 and 2019. The animals seemed to differ from each other in size, shape and jumping technique.

As Protemnodon game (‘se ‘viator’ is Latin for ‘traveler’) a kangaroo weighing up to 170 kilos with long limbs, which could jump well. The species lived in the dry interior of Australia, just like the big red kangaroos of today.

The scientists discovered two other new species: the Protemnodon mamkurra in Protemnodon dawnsonae. The first was a slow kangaroo with thick bones. “It could be that he rarely jumped, maybe only when he was surprised,” said lead researcher Kerr.

of the diasonae the researchers found fewer fossils, so there is not much information about this species. However, according to Kerr, it was probably a medium-speed jumper that resembled a swamp wallaby.

Although the Protemnodons they were very different in appearance and lifestyle, they all became extinct in Australia 40,000 years ago. Only in Tasmania and New Guinea did these kangaroos stay a little longer.

The researchers hope that more research will be done on the lifestyle of the people Protemnodons. “Living kangaroos are already such amazing animals,” Kerr said. “It’s amazing to think what these big weird kangaroos were capable of. “