Describe the following representatives of the australian Megafauna:Diprotodon, zygomaturus, procoptodon, thylacoleo carnifex, zaglossus hacketi, dromornis strtoni and megalania prisca.

Diprotodon- meaning "2 forward teeth." it is the largest marsupial to have ever lived. it lived from approximately 1.6 million years ago to 46000 years ago. it kind of resembled a rhinoceros without a horn. it had stong claws on the front feet and its pouch opening faced backwards. Footprints of its feet have been found showing a covering of hair which indicates it had a coat similar to that of a wombat.

 

Zygomaturus- is an extinct giant marsupial from Australia during the Pleistocene period as did many other australian megafauna. it had a heavy body as well as thick legs and was very similar to the modern pygmy hippopotamus

 

Procoptodon- was a genus of giant short-faced kangaroo living in Australia during the Pleistocene. The largest one, "Procoptodon Goliah" had a height of 2.7 metres and weighed about 232 kg. they looked like the normal kangaroos of today, however they had a shorter face. On each foot they had a single large toe or claw. Their front paws were equally strange: each front paw had two extra-long fingers with large claws. 

 

Thylacoleo Carnifex-  is an extinct species of carnivorous marsupial mammal that lived in australia throughout the pleistocene. the marsupial lion is the largest known meat-eating mammal to have existed in australia. they had retractable claws like other big ats, but dont think that thylacoleo was a relative of te lion because of its nickname. it had nothing to do with them and are atually related to other marsupials of australia. it was an extremely sturdy animal and had a powerfully built jaw as well as strong fore limbs.   

 

Zaglossus Hacketti-  is an extinct species of long-beaked echidna from Western Australia that is dated to thePleistocene. It was about 1 m long[1] and probably weighed about 30 kg (66 lb).[2]This makes it the largest monotreme known to have ever lived.

 

Dromornis Stirtoni- was 3 metres tall and weighed half a ton(500kg). they had long necks and stub like wings, much like the emu. and just like the emu, they were rendered flightless. they had powerful legs but they are not believed to have been fast runners. they also had an immensely powerful beak which led early researchers to believe that this animal used it to shear off tough stalks. however, researchers today think that this could have been used to shear off meat.

 

Megalania Prisca-  is an extinct very large goanna or monitor lizard. They were part of the megafauna that inhabited southern Australia during the Pleistocene. Megalania is the largest terrestrial lizard known to have existed. Judging from its size, it would have fed mostly upon medium to large sized animals, including any of the giant marsupials like Diprotodon along with other reptiles and small mammals, as well as birds and their eggs and chicks. It had heavily built limbs and body and a large skull complete with a small crest in between the eyes, and a jaw full of blade-like teeth.

Describe 4 other animals(of your choice) that are part of the australian megafauna.

Palorchestes- One species, Palorchestes azael, was almost as large as a horse. it had a weight of about 200 kilograms .The appearance of it's nose, led to the nickname of the "marsupial tapir". Since it is unrelated to tapirs, this similarity in nose shape is an example of convergent evolution. Palorchestes front legs bore large claws, similar to those of a koala, which it probably used to pull down leaves and strip the bark from trees.

 

 

Protemnodon-was in essence very much like a wallaby,‭ ‬though much larger in physical size.‭ ‬Protemnodonfossils are also known from Papua New Guinea making this genus one of the most geographically wide ranging genera of wallaby.

 

Quinkana fortirostrum-was one of the last surviving terrestrial crocodiles, and disappears from the fossil records as recently as forty thousand years ago. This disappearance also coincides with the disappearance of many of the large mammals from Australia and is thought to be a result of the first humans arriving on the continent. Quinkana fortirostrum has been estimated to have reached 6 m in length, making it at the time one of Australia's largest predators, second only to the giant monitor lizard, megalania.

 

Wonambi-seems to have been an ambush predator. Rather than using venom, the animal would kill its prey byconstriction. The head of the animal was small, restricting the size of its prey. Despite its killing efficiency Wonambi probably could not tackle larger animals‭ ‬due to the small size of its skull.‭ ‬In addition to this the jaw is also not thought to have been capable of being fully disarticulated like in some snakes that we see today.‭ ‬These restrictions meant that even the larger examples of Wonambi would have had to choose their prey carefully.‭