Procoptodon
Procoptodon
| Procoptodon Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Artist's impression of Procoptodon goliah | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Diprotodontia |
| Family: | Macropodidae |
| Subfamily: | †Sthenurinae |
| Genus: | †Procoptodon Owen, 1873 |
| Species | |
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Procoptodon is a genus of giant short-faced kangaroo living in Australia during the Pleistocene epoch.[1]
P. goliah was the largest kangaroo known to have existed. It stood about 2 m (6.6 ft) tall.[2] They weighed about 200–240 kg (440–530 lb). Other members of the genus were smaller. Procoptodon gilli was the smallest of the genus, only about 1 m (3 ft 3 in) tall.
They were browsers, not grazers like kangaroos today. They ate leaves from trees and shrubs. Their weight makes it likely that they did not hop as their relatives do today.[3] A combination of climate change (cooling and shrinking of forest areas) would have reduced their natural habitat. Predation (hunting) by aboriginal humans probably happened.[4]
Saltbushes were their main food source, so Procoptodon goliah relied on free-standing water to help process its salt-laden diet.[4][5]
References
- ↑ Haaramo, M. (2004-12-20). "Mikko's Phylogeny Archive: Macropodidae - kenguroos". Archived from the original on 2007-03-31. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
- ↑ "Procoptodon goliah". Australian Museum. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
- ↑ Janis CM; Buttrill K. & Figueirido B. 2014. Locomotion in extinct giant kangaroos: were sthenurines hop-less monsters?". PLoS ONE. 9 (10): e109888. [1]
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Prideaux G.J. et al 2009. Extinction implications of a chenopod browse diet for a giant Pleistocene kangaroo. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 106 (28): 11646–11650. doi:10.1073/pnas.0900956106. [2] Archived 2018-06-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Field, Judith and Wroe, Stephen. 2012.Aridity, faunal adaptations and Australian late Pleistocene extinctions[permanent dead link]. World Archaeology. '44,' 1, p 56–74.
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