Fossil of New Type of Pussy Cat-Sized Lion Found in Australia

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Fossils of a new type of lion were discovered in Queensland, Australia, and after studying them, it was found that this brand-new genus has actually been around for over 23 to 24 millions years.

The fossils confirm that this marsupial lion was about the size of a domesticated house cat. but despite what most would consider is incredibly small for a lion, its size had nothing on its ability to scare the other animals that would come in contact with it.


A study of this newfound and interesting creature was published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology in February, co-written by Anna Gillespie, Michael Archer and Suzanne Hand from the University of New South Wales. Although the study was published only recently this year, the fossil was discovered by Dr. Gillespie back in 1997 at the Riversleigh World Heritage area, a well-known location for finding a number of other significant fossils.

ABC

When the fossils were found, Dr. Gillespie decided to name the marsupial lion Priscileo roskellyae, which was in reference to the former federal minister Ros Kelly. But it has been since reclassified as Lekaneleo roskellyae after the team noticed that the cat’s teeth were different form the Priscileo genus.

In an interview with ABC, Dr. Archer told the publication, “I would think that many of the animals in the Riversleigh ancient rainforest would have been shaking in their little furry boots when they saw this animal come along.”

Dr. Archer added, “This little guy that we’re calling Lekaneleo roskellya… was one of the tiniest marsupial lions we’ve ever seen. It was actually like a pussy cat in size. What we’ve progressively found at Riversleigh, where there’s been an amazing window of understanding about the evolution of this very strange group of marsupials, is that they started out as really tiny animals, smaller than a pussy cat.”

The co-author continued, “In Australia, the marsupial lions were the supremely specialized carnivores throughout at least the last 30 millions years of Australian history. And this guy, this new one, we’ve only just recognized is highly different than any of the other previous ones we’ve seen – that’s why it’s been described now as a new genus of marsupial lion.”

Dr. Archer shared that the little lion’s teeth were extremely sharp. In fact, they were so sharp that they were “capable of slicing straight through bones.” He also said it was notable that “They had an extraordinary, elongated, bolt-cutting type of premolar. This was the most extraordinary adaptation or evolution that a carnivorous mammal has ever developed anywhere in the world.”

This new genus is now classified alongside the thylacine or ‘Tasmanian tiger,’ as well as the biggest marsupial ever found – the diprotodon, another species that had once lived on the island continent that has been long-extinct.

Extinct Animals

With the recent bushfires that have ravaged Australia, conservationists and scientists are extremely worried that the other marsupials native to Australia could be in danger too, like the platypus and koala. Unfortunately, the bushfires brought on a tremendous loss of life, which also sadly had a colossal impact on the country’s biodiversity “where 87 percent of wildlife is endemic, meaning it can only be found in Australia.”


Meanwhile, Dr. Archer also shared that all of these animal extinctions need to ‘serve as a lesson’ for the younger generations these days. He shared, “These forests were ever so much more complex than anything you may see now in the wet tropics. It makes us understand that the total effect that has happened in Australia is a steady loss of the complexities that was normal in the forests in Australia.”

He continued, “We see over time, as climates have changed, as the rainforests have retreated to the edges of the continent, the biodiversity of Australia has steadily shrunk. This is a message here of course and it’s that if we keep allowing the earth’s temperature to rise, we are going to see a massive loss of biodiversity.”

 

 

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