Chew on this! The diet of an extinct "panda-like" marsupial from New Guinea

[UngulateNerd92]

What did the “Beast of Huli" eat? The diet of this bizarre extinct marsupial, which had similarities to both giant wombats and pandas, has remained a mystery. PhD student Joshua White, with coauthors, examined the teeth of this species to help answer these questions.

More than 30 years ago, the Australian Museum’s Professor Tim Flannery discovered a bizarre extinct marsupial from the remote highlands of Papua New Guinea. He named it Hulitherium, meaning “Beast of Huli” after the indigenous people who lived in the area where the remains of this unusual beast were discovered. Hulitherium belonged to an extinct group of wombat-like marsupials, called Diprotodontidae, which roamed the rainforests of New Guinea during the Pleistocene period1. Like most fossil discoveries, there wasn’t an abundance of remains from this animal, but the fossils described include various teeth, skull fragments, forelimbs and hindlimbs. Fortunately, the remains discovered were enough to identify this fossil as a new and unique genus and species, Hulitherium tomasettii.

Chew on this! The diet of an extinct "panda-like" marsupial from New Guinea

 

[Jurek7]

Young animal lovers, watch out!

Hulitherium is probably just a forerunner of an incredible collection of extinct animals waiting to be discovered to science, which lived in Ice Age New Guinea. Prehistoric New Guinea was the warmest and most humid part of a single landmass with Australia, the latter famous for its giant marsupials, birds and reptiles. Similar animals must have lived on New Guinea too, and judging from the climate, even more species and more varied. But today New Guinea is understudied, and few people looked for fossils as yet.

 

[UngulateNerd92]

Young animal lovers, watch out!

Hulitherium is probably just a forerunner of an incredible collection of extinct animals waiting to be discovered to science, which lived in Ice Age New Guinea. Prehistoric New Guinea was the warmest and most humid part of a single landmass with Australia, the latter famous for its giant marsupials, birds and reptiles. Similar animals must have lived on New Guinea too, and judging from the climate, even more species and more varied. But today New Guinea is understudied, and few people looked for fossils as yet.

I look forward to seeing more of what New Guinea can offer us paleontology-wise.