Evolution of Diprotodon Optatum

EVOLUTION OF DIPROTODON:

Diprotodon (Ancient Greek: "two protruding front teeth") is an extinct genus of marsupial from the Pleistocene of Australia, containing one species, D. optatum. The earliest finds date to 1.77 million to 780,000 years ago, but most specimens are dated to after 110,000 years ago. Its massive fossils were first unearthed in 1830 in Wellington Caves, New South Wales, before any serious scientists were active on the continent, and were variably guessed to belong to rhinos, elephants, hippos, or dugongs. Diprotodon, formally described by Sir Richard Owen in 1838, was the first named Australian fossil mammal, and set Owen on a path to becoming the foremost authority of his time on other marsupials and Australian megafauna so enigmatic to European science.
Diprotodon is the largest known marsupial to have ever lived, far dwarfing its closest living relatives, wombats and koalas. It grew as large as 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) at the shoulders, over 4 m (13 ft) from head to tail, and possibly almost 3,500 kg (7,700 lb) in weight. Females were much smaller than males. It supported itself on elephant-like legs to traverse long distances, and colonised most of Australia. The digits were weak, and most of the weight was probably borne on the wrists and ankles. The hindpaws angled inward at 130°. Its jaws may have produced a prodigious bite force of 2,300 N (520 lbf) at the long and ever-growing incisors, and over 11,000 N (2,500 lbf) at the last molar. Such power would have permitted it to eat vegetation in bulk, crunching and grinding on mixed browse with its bilophodont teeth.

It is the only known marsupial (and metatherian) identified to make seasonal migrations, trekking through a wide range of habitats in large (usually female) herds to search out food and water. Walking speed could have been about 6 km/h (3.7 mph). Diprotodon may have formed polygynous societies, possibly using its powerful incisors to battle for mates or fend off predators, namely the largest known marsupial carnivore, Thylacoleo carnifex. Being a marsupial, Diprotodon raised a joey in a pouch on its belly, probably one facing backwards like in wombats.

Diprotodon went extinct about 40,000 years ago as part of the Quaternary extinction event, along with every other Australian creature over 100 kg (220 lb), possibly caused by the extreme drought conditions, as well as pressure from the first Aboriginal Australians who had been sharing the continent with the megafauna for about 20,000 years. On the other hand, there is no solid direct evidence of Aboriginal Australians and Diprotodon (or any Pleistocene mammalian megafauna) interacting at all. Diprotodon has been conjectured to be the subject of some aboriginal mythological figures (most notably, the bunyip) and aboriginal rock artworks, but these are unconfirmable.


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