Marsupial Lion

Marsupial Lion Fossil range: Early - Late Pleistocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Infraclass: Marsupialia Order: Diprotodontia Family: Thylacoleonidae Genus: Thylacoleo Species: T. carnifex
Binomial name
Thylacoleo carnifex Owen, 1859

Marsupial Lion skeleton

The Marsupial Lion, Thylacoleo carnifex, is an extinct species of carnivorous marsupial that lived in Australia from the early to the late Pleistocene, from 1,600,000 to 40,000 years ago. The scientific name comes from the words thylakos - pouch, leo - lion, and carnifex - murderer, tormentor, or butcher. It is the largest meat eating mammal to have lived in Australia.

Fossil remains on the dry Nullarbor Plain show that humans and climate change caused the extinction of the Australian megafauna around 45,000 years ago.

Description

The Marsupial Lion is closely related to the wombat and the koala, and not the cat family. It looked like a cat, with strong claws and very powerful jaws. Scientists have worked out that the Marsupial Lion had the most powerful bite of any animal, alive or extinct. It was able to hunt animals like the giant kangaroo and the giant wombat, but its big jaw would have made it hard to hunt and kill small animals. The Marsupial Lion could weigh up to 130 kg (287 lb). It was about 1.5 m (5 ft) long and stood about 75 cm (2 ft) tall.

Fossils and other evidence

Fossil bones of the Marsupial Lion have been found in caves on the Nullabor Plain. Scientists say that these bones are between 400,000 to 800,000 years old. In 2006, cave paintings were found in northwest Australia, showing the Marsupial Lion. The pictures show that the lions had a striped back, tufted tail, and pointy ears. The long drought in south east Victoria has dried out many lakes. In 2009, a farmer near Ballarat discovered fossil footprints and a jaw bone of a marsupial lion preserved in limestone in a dry lake bed.

Other websites

• Cave painting of a marsupial lion
• Australia's Marsupial Lion