• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Small fanged kangaroo once roamed rainforests of northern Australia

A small fanged kangaroo that once roamed rainforests that covered northern Australia lived longer than previously thought. The long toothed creature the size of a wallaby lived at least five million years longer than previously thought. Despite its fearsome canines the fangaroo was a plant eater, did not hop like modern roos and its teeth […]

Joe Mellor by Joe Mellor
2017-10-16 16:15
in News, Science
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

A small fanged kangaroo that once roamed rainforests that covered northern Australia lived longer than previously thought.

The long toothed creature the size of a wallaby lived at least five million years longer than previously thought.

Despite its fearsome canines the fangaroo was a plant eater, did not hop like modern roos and its teeth were just for show to attract mates.

They were thought to have gone extinct about 15 million years ago because of climate change.

But new research into the species diversity and body size showed it persisted to at least 10 million years ago.

And the University of Queensland-led study found the prehistoric species might have competed for resources with ancestors of modern kangaroos.

The findings shed light on the evolution of kangaroos.

RelatedPosts

What about Covid loans? New £600m plan to fight UC benefit fraud unveiled

Watch: Minister rejects police warning of increase in crime due to cost of living guilty of not having a ‘clue’

Reactions as Eric Clapton cancels shows after testing positive for Covid

Truss accused of saying Brexit would only impact farmers carrying turnips – reactions

The study used Queensland Museum holdings of ancient fossil deposits from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area.

This is Australia’s most famous fossil site where kangaroo fossil evidence goes back as far as 25 million years.

The fanged kangaroos, including the species Balbaroo fangaroo, were about the size of a small wallaby.

PhD student Kaylene Butler at the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences said: “Fanged kangaroos and the potential ancestors of modern kangaroos are both browsers – meaning they ate leaves – and they scurried, but did not hop.

“Northern Queensland was predominantly covered in rainforest when these fanged kangaroos first appear in the fossil record.

Balbaroo fangaroo, a fanged kangaroo from the Riverlseigh World Heritage Area. A small fanged kangaroo that once roamed rainforests that covered northern Australia lived longer than previously thought. 

“There is a lot of research to be done before we can be sure what their canine teeth were used for but some have suggested they were used to attract potential mates.

“We do know that despite their large canines they were herbivorous (plant eaters).

“We found that fanged kangaroos increased in body size right up until their extinction.”

Ms Butler said the research aimed to fill significant gaps in the understanding of kangaroo evolution, and new fossil finds were helping to bring ancient lineages into focus.

She said: “Currently 21 macropod species are listed as vulnerable or endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.”

Understanding when and why kangaroos went extinct in the past could help with understanding what drove extinction of such animals.

Ms Butler said: “Currently, we can only hypothesise as to why balbarids became extinct – the original hypothesis related to events during a change in climate 15 million years ago but the balbarids persisted past that.

“This new finding of their persistence until 10 million years ago means something else must have been at play, such as being outcompeted by other species.”

Last year she discovered two new ancient species of kangaroo, Cookeroo bulwidarri and Cookeroo hortusensis.

Mammal that lived through the biggest extinction in Earth’s history may hold the key to saving the planet

Image of tiny insect living under massive mushroom has won amateur photographer a major award

 

 

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

“Don’t know” overtakes Theresa May in poll of who people want as Prime Minister. But it’s not good news for Jeremy Corbyn either…

Film Review: The Wound

Sexual harassment and bullying at Westminster exposed by new probe

BBC’s DIY SOS To Rebuild Home Of Football Fan Left Disabled After Violent Clash With Rivals

Tory MP “doesn’t know” whether Corbyn wants to shoot the wealthy

Discover East Hokkaido, Japan

Starmer’s Labour facing bankruptcy as Unite threatens to pull funding

Former Australian PM says Brexit is just ‘so much Tory b***shit’

Liz Truss dismisses Tony Abbott sexism concerns as “irrelevent”

Senior Tory SLAMS Chancellor over lack of social care funding

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.