Bio Assessment
Biology Assessment #4
Australian Megafauna:
Thylacoleo Carnifex & Diprotodon Optatum
Part A:
The term Megafauna means ‘big animals’, and refers to animals with a body mass of over 40 kilograms. In general use, the term Megafauna is used to refer to the animals that evolved after the dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago. The extinction of the dinosaurs meant that the large number of birds, mammals and reptiles, which were left over, were able to evolve and dominate the earth. During the Quaternary Period, the last 2.5 million years, the largest known animals known as the Megafauna were most abundant.
Thylacoleo Carnifex
Thylacoleo Carnifex is the largest Australian mammal ever known and belonged to the Thylacoleonids. Its fossils were discovered shortly after European settlement. Thylacoleo was equipped with large piercing incisors and large, sharp thumb claws used to grip and tear apart its prey. Thylacoleo Carnifex is 1.5 metres long and 75 centimetres high at the shoulder. Many palaeontologists believe that the ancestors of the Thylacoleonids were in fact herbivores, which is very uncommon considering most carnivores evolved from other carnivorous ancestries. Based upon the dental make-up of the Thylacoleo Carnifex, it has been suggested that they evolved from the Phalangeroidea, which is the possum ancestry. However, other studies show that particular skull features suggest that the Thylacoleonids were derived from the lineage that contains Wombats and Koalas, the Vombatiform line.
Diprotodon
At 3.8 metres long and 1.7 metres tall at the shoulder, the Diprotodon was the largest Australian marsupial known. The sub family Diprotodontinae which included the Diprotodon Optatum, lived between 5.3 million years ago to 11,700 years ago. The Diprotodon may have evolved from the Plicene Diprotodontine Euryzygma throughout the late Pliocene. Much like its closest living relatives the Wombat and Koala, the Diprotodon Optatum inhabited open
Australian Megafauna:
Thylacoleo Carnifex & Diprotodon Optatum
Part A:
The term Megafauna means ‘big animals’, and refers to animals with a body mass of over 40 kilograms. In general use, the term Megafauna is used to refer to the animals that evolved after the dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago. The extinction of the dinosaurs meant that the large number of birds, mammals and reptiles, which were left over, were able to evolve and dominate the earth. During the Quaternary Period, the last 2.5 million years, the largest known animals known as the Megafauna were most abundant.
Thylacoleo Carnifex
Thylacoleo Carnifex is the largest Australian mammal ever known and belonged to the Thylacoleonids. Its fossils were discovered shortly after European settlement. Thylacoleo was equipped with large piercing incisors and large, sharp thumb claws used to grip and tear apart its prey. Thylacoleo Carnifex is 1.5 metres long and 75 centimetres high at the shoulder. Many palaeontologists believe that the ancestors of the Thylacoleonids were in fact herbivores, which is very uncommon considering most carnivores evolved from other carnivorous ancestries. Based upon the dental make-up of the Thylacoleo Carnifex, it has been suggested that they evolved from the Phalangeroidea, which is the possum ancestry. However, other studies show that particular skull features suggest that the Thylacoleonids were derived from the lineage that contains Wombats and Koalas, the Vombatiform line.
Diprotodon
At 3.8 metres long and 1.7 metres tall at the shoulder, the Diprotodon was the largest Australian marsupial known. The sub family Diprotodontinae which included the Diprotodon Optatum, lived between 5.3 million years ago to 11,700 years ago. The Diprotodon may have evolved from the Plicene Diprotodontine Euryzygma throughout the late Pliocene. Much like its closest living relatives the Wombat and Koala, the Diprotodon Optatum inhabited open
Bibliography: Websites "Australian Museum - Nature, Culture, Discover - Australian Museum." Australian Museum - Nature, Culture, Discover - Australian Museum. Web. 08 Aug. 2012. <http://australianmuseum.net.au/>. "Diprotodon." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 08 June 2012. Web. 08 Aug. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diprotodon>. "Glossteris Browniana Permian Plant Fossil." Permian Plant Fossil Glossteris Browniana. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Aug. 2012. <http://www.fossilmuseum.net/plantfossils/Glossopteris-browniana/Glossopteris.htm>. "Glossopteris." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 08 June 2012. Web. 08 Aug. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossopteris>. "Introduction to the Glossopteridales." Glossopteridales. 7 May 1993. Web. 08 Aug. 2012. <http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/seedplants/pteridosperms/glossopterids.html>. "Melbourne Museum." : Web. 08 Aug. 2012. <http://museumvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/>. "Thylacoleo." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 31 July 2012. Web. 08 Aug. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacoleo>.