Vanished Giants: The Lost World of the Ice Age by Anthony J. Stuart

Author:Anthony J. Stuart [Stuart, Anthony J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: SCI054000 Science / Paleontology, Paleontology, General, Earth Sciences, SCI019000 Science / Earth Sciences / General, SCI000000 Science / General, science
ISBN: 9780226432847
Google: xexqzQEACAAJ
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2021-01-28T00:27:32.369551+00:00

Figure 8.11. Thylacoleo carnifex skeleton of immature individual in situ, Nullarbor Caves, South Australia. (Courtesy of Clay Bryce / Western Australian Museum.)

The unfused ends of limb bones showed that it was an immature individual. The extreme dryness and cool temperature of the cave resulted in extraordinarily good preservation; the bones are white and unmineralized, and look as if they were at most only a few hundred years old. However, the remains proved to be extremely fragile, which necessitated much time treating them with consolidant. Also in the cave were remains of hundreds of other animals, including Procoptodon goliah, other kangaroos, and ten incomplete skeletons of marsupial lion.

The carnivorous dental specializations of Thylacoleo are unique. Placental carnivores such as lion, tiger, and leopard are equipped with enlarged canines for gripping and killing prey, and carnassials (fourth premolar above, first molar below) for slicing flesh. In marked contrast, the canines in Thylacoleo were tiny, whereas the extremely enlarged first incisors possibly fulfilled a similar function to the canines of placental carnivores. The most striking feature of Thylacoleo is its enormously enlarged blade-like third premolars, up to 6 centimeters long, which could not only slice flesh but also cut through bone, functioning much like bolt-cutters. Stephen Wroe and colleagues concluded that Thylacoleo probably had the most powerful known bite of any mammal, living or extinct.51 The possession of massive forearms, large retractable thumb claws, and forward-facing eye sockets (for binocular vision) also strongly suggest a predatory mode of life. At around 0.75 meters at the shoulder and with an estimated weight of 87 to 130 kilograms, it was roughly equivalent in size to a modern jaguar.52 Previous estimates had compared it to a leopard, which weighs only half as much. The greater weight estimate argues against previous suggestions that Thylacoleo was primarily arboreal and even carried its prey up into trees (like the leopard) to protect it from other carnivores such as the Tasmanian devil. According to Wroe: “[Thylacoleo was] just a lump of muscle and bone, and powerfully built. It had a build that was closer to a bear than a cat. It probably preyed on slow but large prey. This creature was built to wrestle—its arm bones were twice as thick as a leopard’s, and its skull was as wide as it was long.’”53 So, Thylacoleo had every indication of having been an ambush predator that probably lay in wait under cover near waterholes or elsewhere until large-mammal prey came within reach. Prey probably included Zygomaturus, Palorchestes, juvenile Diprotodon, and kangaroos up to the size of Procoptodon goliah. It seems likely that emu (Dromaius) and thunderbird (Genyornis) were also on the menu. Thylacoleo carnifex fossils from Moree, New South Wales, include an adult female skeleton in association with the lower jaw of a newborn and the skull of an older juvenile; possibly all three were a family group. On the basis of the new finds from Flight Star Cave, Nullarbor (fig. 8.11) and Henschke’s Quarry, Naracoorte, Wells and Camens have inferred additional information on the likely behavior of this extraordinary animal.

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