billion of class ago , from the belated Oligocene to the Late Pleistocene , giant marsupial savage with strange , tapir - comparable nous roamed eastern Australia . Now , scientist have analyzed the limbs of these clawed giants , revealing more about what their bodies were like . report their finding inPLOS ONE , the researcher conclude that some of these monstrous marsupials may have weigh over 1,000 kilograms ( 2,200 pounds ) , that ’s five timesheavier than a blue heavyweight ’s philia , in case you were wondering .
The team , led by Hazel Richards of Monash University , studied over 60 fossil specimens of palorchestid pouched mammal from different meter periods to essay to learn how their arms and leg evolved and how they were used . The researchers establish that over the years , the animate being ’ appendage not only got larger , they get weirder too .
As they evolved , their arms win brawn , make these herbivores specially hench . This lastingness would have been stark for grabbing or scraping at branches and leaves . Meanwhile , the biggest palorchestids had an subdivision feature of speech not consider in any other mammal – they had firm elbow joint joints stuck in home at a 100 - degree slant . Their purpose ? To create for good flexed cock for collecting food , of course . Meanwhile , their metrical unit were adorned with “ knife - like ” claw adapted for “ slice , clinging and raking ” .
" There are many weird aspects to palorchestid bod , but for me the most fascinating are the forelimb , " Richards told IFLScience . " Their arm bone are super robust , and in some ways they resemble the forelimbs of dig animals like wombats . But palorchestid claw would be terrible at digging ( like trying to dig with a chef ’s tongue ) , and their elbow do n’t allow the cause necessary to do this anyway . To have an articulatio cubiti ineffectual to bend or straighten is totally unheard of in any other mammal , living or extinct , so I am interested in understand how palorchestids used their limb and how they came to be so unusual . "
Their foreign , recollective faces , equate to those oftoday ’s tapirs , suggest they were selective web web browser , feeding on vegetation . Some scientists propose that they may have fed on bark , absorb their own specific feeding niche , but we do n’t know for sure .
" They may also have been able to rear up onto their back leg and use their taloned hands to dig into Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree bark to bring their foresightful natural language and nipping incisor nigher to foliation higher up off the ground , " said I. A. Richards .
The study marks the first time the limb morphology of these hulk has been formally account , disgorge light on a wight whose fossil are “ exceptionally rare ” . Meanwhile , the study close that palorchestids were importantly larger than we antecedently think .
" We do n’t know on the dot why palorchestids became so large , but this practice of body size of it increase over time is seen across many different mammal , reptile , and razz lineages in Australia and across other continents , " Richards explained .
The investigator observe that most of Australia ’s marsupial megafauna went out during the Late Pleistocene , most probable thanks to a combination of climate change and human activity . While the palorchestids are no longer tramp Australia , they will forever be retrieve as one of the most outre grouping of animals to inhabit the continent .
" This study has allowed us for the first time to appreciate just how huge these mega - marsupial palorchestids were , while also providing the first comprehensive view of a strange limb anatomy unprecedented in the mammalian human race , ” the research worker said in astatement . “ This inquiry break yet more about the diversity of unequaled gravid marsupials that once roamed Australia not so long ago . "
