Especially for Wombat - What's a diprotodon?

[smokey the elder]

Wom, I saw this story and thought of you! http://news.yahoo.com/mega-wombat-un...102607661.html

[Karen]

Wow! Must have been amazing!

[Freedom]

Wowee, they must have been surprised when they got it uncovered!

[happylabs]

This story is about fossils. Are you saying Wom is old.

Oh wait...Wombat fossil.

[RICHARD]

http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/...html?GT1=38001

Australian Scientists Unearth Massive Wombat-Like Fossil
“It was the biggest of them all—the biggest marsupial that ever lived on any continent.”
Australian scientists have uncovered the remains of 3-ton marsupial the size of a rhinoceros that lived 2 million years ago.

The Daily Telegraph reports that paleontologists in Queensland have unearthed a nearly complete skeleton of the wombat-like creature, known as a diprotodon. Scientists say the find is one of Australia’s most significant prehistoric discoveries.

“It was the biggest of them all—the biggest marsupial that ever lived on any continent,” said Sue Hand, one of the researchers involved in the discovery. "It was a bit like a wombat but looked more like a massive, rhino-type beast. ... We've found the skull and jaws, as well as most of the rest of the skeleton. It's a really good specimen."

The animal, which had enormous tusks and a small brain, walked the Australian continent about 2.5 million years ago. Scientists believe the animal succumbed to extinction about 55,000 years ago, due to either the arrival of the first indigenous peoples, climate change, or some combination of the two.

The unearthing was a long time in the making. Researchers first spotted an arm bone sticking out of the ground sometime last year. Further digging revealed the skeleton, as well as the tooth of a giant goanna, a type of lizard that may have eaten part of the diprotodon’s carcass.

The Telegraph describes the area where the remains were discovered as a hotbed of “prehistoric megafauna,” which is a term used for big, old animals, and probably some new band from Brooklyn.

Over the past four decades, researchers in the area have discovered evidence of giant kangaroos, giant lizards, and other things typically found only in the nightmares of the average Australian child.

-------------------------

Wom,

[Lady's Human]

Digging in your backyard again, Wom?

[kokopup]

The animal, which had enormous tusks and a small brain

Yes, that was Wom Alright.

[happylabs]

yes, that was wom alright.

lmao...

[wombat2u2004]

Enough jokes everyone !!!! I'm very sensitive about such things

Yeah, the Diprotodon was a huge Wombelina. Looks like Suzy has dug up a good complete one this time. Although Diprotodon fossils are not new, this is the first complete fossil that has been found.
Susan Hand is one of the gurus here in the field of fossils, quite a brilliant lady, I almost met her once at a dig, but missed her by a day.....she had to fly off to another find.
There are a few theories as to why they went extinct, which was shortly after humans arrived here 50,000 years ago. Some say they were hunted to extinction (just like the Dodo in Mauritius....the Dutch ate them all), and the Australian continent sort of dried up from the inside out after the last ice age, so their habitats would have been affected.
I believe it was a combination of both, climate change and hunting by the Aboriginals.

[smokey the elder]

I find the whole presence of megafauna in the recent past fascinating. It's like a whole mess of mammals got into an enormous trove of steroids!

[wombat2u2004]

I find the whole presence of megafauna in the recent past fascinating. It's like a whole mess of mammals got into an enormous trove of steroids!

Recent scientific studies have revealed that Godzilla and King Kong took steroids.

[happylabs]

Recent scientific studies have revealed that Godzilla and King Kong took steroids.

It must have been a BIG pill!