Procoptodon
genus of mammals (fossil) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Procoptodon is a genus of giant short-faced kangaroo living in Australia during the Pleistocene epoch.[1]
P. goliah was the largest kangaroo known to have existed. It stood about 2 m (6.6 ft) tall.[2] They weighed about 200–240 kg (440–530 lb). Other members of the genus were smaller. Procoptodon gilli was the smallest of the genus, only about 1 m (3 ft 3 in) tall.
They were browsers, not grazers like kangaroos today. They ate leaves from trees and shrubs. Their weight makes it likely that they did not hop as their relatives do today.[3] A combination of climate change (cooling and shrinking of forest areas) would have reduced their natural habitat. Predation (hunting) by aboriginal humans probably happened.[4]
Saltbushes were their main food source, so Procoptodon goliah relied on free-standing water to help process its salt-laden diet.[4][5]
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