Giant kangaroos once roamed Australia

July 7, 2024 6:15 AM

Giant kangaroos once roamed Australia. New fossils suggest they moved more like T. rex than Skippy. Scientists are piecing together a picture of how Australia's extinct giant kangaroos moved.

Procoptodon goliah disappeared around 40,000 years ago. This huge stubby-faced species tipped the scales at 240 kilograms — that's two-and-a-half times the weight of the heftiest contemporary red kangaroo (Macropus rufus) — and stood 2 metres tall.

posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (7 comments total)

chariot, seems like you are THE person to go to for Australian megafauna.

I'll say the same thing I said in the previous thread about giant lizards: Not only is it amazing that these animals existed relatively recently, but that Aboriginal people have lived there long enough that many generations would have coexisted with them (or more realistically, run away from them).
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:16 AM on July 7 [1 favorite]

(or more realistically, run away from them)

Yeah. I mean, it's conventional wisdom not to mess with our own era's kangaroos. Can you imagine the shit a two-meter tall one could get up to?
posted by May Kasahara at 7:29 AM on July 7 [1 favorite]

I already thought they were big enough. The idea of kangaroos weighing in at 240 kilos is... disturbing.
posted by Stochastic Jack at 9:35 AM on July 7

Just last night I was running terrified from a giant kangaroo in the wonderful indie platformer Animal Well. Really leans into making you feel small and vulnerable whilst shapes move in the shadows - as must also have been the case when this fella loomed out of the twilight.
posted by protorp at 9:41 AM on July 7 [1 favorite]

That video at the bottom of the article really does give off T. rex vibes. T. roo!
posted by rory at 12:15 PM on July 7

Tyrannosaurus Roo
posted by y2karl at 12:45 PM on July 7 [1 favorite]

Can't eat 'em
Don't wanna meet 'em.
posted by mule98J at 11:11 AM on July 8 [1 favorite]