Why Did the Australian Marsupial Lion, the Thylacoleo, Go Extinct? New Research Points to Climate Change
In tens of thousands of years of Australia, forests once housed powerful top predators, the marsupial lion (Thylacoleo). There is some doubt about the extinction of the thylacoleo, but research shows that it was caused by climate change.
thylacoleo
The thylacoleo is a top predator in Australian forests, but it disappeared around 3.5 million to 4.5 million years ago. Humans arrived in Australia around 60,000 years ago, so scientists suspected whether humans were responsible for the extinction of the thylacoleo. This suspicion is not entirely unfounded, after all, ancestors and modern humans have a history of trouble.
The thylacoleo is currently the largest carnivorous mammal known from Australia, and has been Australia's most terrifying predator for nearly 2 million years. The thylacoleo's body size is slightly larger than that of a modern leopard, but smaller than that of an African lion. The thylacoleo's jaw is incredibly powerful, one of the strongest biting animals ever known.
thylacoleo
Research led by Larisa DeSantis at Vanderbilt UniversityThe thylacoleo was driven to extinction by the loss of habitat due to natural climate changes, and was not related to humans.DeSantis and her team confirmed that the thylacoleo only lived in forests and was not accustomed to open grasslands.
Researchers used worn teeth and isotope analysis to find that the thylacoleo hunted animals in the forest. DeSantis said that the thylacoleo was highly specialized in hunting in the forest, but this also made the thylacoleo more vulnerable to extinction when facing the drought of 350,000 years ago. Furthermore, the thylacoleo's body structure showed that it was a ambush hunter, able to attack animals at close range without defenses, rather than chasing fast-running prey in open terrain.
thylacoleo
Due to the drying of the climate in Australia 350,000 years ago, dense forests gradually turned into grasslands. The shrinking habitat made it difficult for the highly forest-adapted thylacoleo to withstand, and its hunting efficiency decreased. DeSantis said that this research shows that even the most ferocious predators have to yield to climate change.
Tasmanian devil
The predator that replaced the thylacoleo is more famous, namely the Tasmanian devil (Thylacine). The Tasmanian devil, which went extinct in 1936, was more adapted to open habitats in Australia under dry climates, which may be the reason why the Tasmanian devil could survive but the thylacoleo could not. Although the thylacoleo was quite powerful, its high specialization reduced its adaptability, and ultimately led to its demise. However, the Tasmanian devil managed to survive the climate changes, but was eventually driven to extinction by human hunting.
Edited by AI intelligence
