These Australian giant animals we will never see again

These Australian giant animals we will never see again
These Australian giant animals we will never see again
Anonim

The fires raging in Australia have led to the death of a billion animals, and the population of Australia's symbol, koalas, has tripled. It would seem that this period is the most deadly for the representatives of the Australian fauna, but scientists have proven that this is not the case. 50 thousand years ago, about twenty species of giant animals that lived on the continent became extinct due to human fault.

It all started with the fact that Homo sapiens left Africa and reached the Sahul continent, on the territory of which modern Australia is located. Sapiens lived mainly by hunting, and their prey were unique animals that inhabited the continent much earlier than humans.

Here are animals that we will never see again, they became known only thanks to the work of paleontologists.

Kangaroo procoptodons - huge herbivores weighing about 200 kilograms and more than three meters long. In addition to their height, they were distinguished by strong bones of the skull and many chewing muscles.

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Bird geniornis also stood out in two-meter size. Scientists in 2016 proved that the extinction of this species of birds was due to human consumption of their eggs.

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Tilakolev - a marsupial animal, the ancestor of modern koalas. Although the name of this animal contains the word "lion", scientists have determined that it is distinguished from modern representatives of felines by the method of prey production. Modern predators first choke their prey with powerful jaws, and the tilakolev immediately used its teeth, tore the body with long sharp claws.

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Diprotodons - the largest marsupials ever inhabited on Earth: their weight was more than 2.5 tons. "Marsupial hippos", or zygomats, according to scientists, had a very slow movement speed. Therefore, they were ideal prey for humans.

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In addition to mammals, there were many reptiles among the extinct giants, for example, a six-meter land crocodile and seven-meter monitor lizards. According to experts, the reason for the disappearance of reptiles was climatic changes and a reduction in the food supply. The supposed prey of these giants was destroyed by man.

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