Still Waters Posted July 26, 2016 #1 Share Posted July 26, 2016 An ancient flesh-eating species with teeth capable of slicing up large animals has been identified at an Australian fossil site. The now-extinct marsupial terrorised the forests of Australia some five million years ago. At 20 to 25kg (44 to 55 pounds), it weighed more than twice as much than its distant cousin and the country's current master in the flesh-eating stakes, the Tasmanian devil. http://news.sky.com/story/ancient-flesh-eating-beast-found-in-australia-10512830 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldrover Posted July 27, 2016 #2 Share Posted July 27, 2016 Very interesting. One that I found misleading in that article though was the way they described it as a cousin of the devil. Which I took to mean it was in the same genus. According to this version though https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160725104121.htm It seems they were using the devil as a generic reference point to a predatory marsupial. While it looks like it's in Dasyuromorphia, it seems to be outside of any of the living, or tragically, until recently living, families. Another interesting one is this http://www.nature.com/articles/srep26911 Different animal, but from the same fossil bed I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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