A group of giant fossil kangaroos have been described by Australian scientists.
The new description of the fossil kangaroo has found that it is not related to Australian kangaroos and is instead related to a different type of animal found only in the Pacific region.
Professor Tim Flannery first described the animal in 1983. The Nombe Rockshelter is an archaeological site in Chimbu Province.
Nombe is home to several extinct species of giant four-legged marsupials.
The animal was renamed Nombe nombe after the location of its discovery, and the researchers will return to the country next year.
The Nombe lived in a rainforest with thick undergrowth and a closed canopy. It evolved to eat the leaves from trees and shrubs with a strong jaw bone.
Despite its distinctiveness, the animal life of Newguinea is not well known outside the island. There is a new life breathed into the exploration of the faunal history.
Most Australians don't have much of an idea of what's actually there in Newguinea.
There are several species of large, long-nosed, worm-eating echidna that are still around today, as well as many different wallaby and possum species that we don't get in Australia.
We think of these animals as unique to Australia, but they have something else in common.
Researchers used 3D imagery and other technology to study remains from the museum. It is thought that the species may have evolved from an ancient form of kangaroo that was present in Newguinea in the late Miocene.
Lower sea levels made it possible for the islands of New Zealand and Australia to be connected by a land bridge. Early Australian mammals, including giant extinct forms, were able to move into the rainforests of Newguinean.
The population of animals became disconnected from their Australian relatives when the Strait flooded again.
Nombe is thought to be a descendant of one of the ancient lines of kangaroos.
Many fascinating discoveries of extinct megafauna were made there by American and Australian researchers in the 1960's, 70's and 80's. Since the early '90s, no paleontological digs have been done there.
The research will be expanded thanks to a grant from the Australia Pacific Science Foundation, according to the co-author of the new Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia article.
Over the next three years, we'll be digging at two different sites in eastern and central PNG.
We'll be working with the curators of the New Zealand Museum and Art Gallery and other contacts in New Zealand to build local interest in paleontology in Newguinea.
More information: A new genus of fossil kangaroo from late Pleistocene New Guinea, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia (2022). DOI: 10.1080/03721426.2022.2086518
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