Ancient Australian tree lion found
The fossilised remains of a treedwelling marsupial lion that is thought to have ranged the forests of Australia thousands of years ago have been discovered by palaeontologists.
Scientists who examined the creature’s skull and lower jaw discovered that its anatomy differed from that of other marsupial lions that died out about 35,000 years ago. The new lion’s teeth were capable of slicing straight through bones, according to Michael Archer, professor of biological, earth and environmental sciences at the University of New South Wales.
‘‘They had an extraordinary, elongated, bolt-cutting type of premolar,’’ he said. ‘‘This was the most extraordinary adaptation or evolution that a carnivorous mammal has ever developed anywhere in the world.’’
He said the teeth were the reason that the lion, which was about the size of a domestic cat, was now being recognised as a distinct genus and named Lekaneleo roskellyae.
‘‘We’ve only just recognised it’s highly different from any of the other previous ones we’ve seen – that’s why it’s been described now as a new genus of marsupial lion.
‘‘Lekaneleo had teeth in it that are a bit like micro bolt-cutting teeth; there is nothing this animal decided to eat that it couldn’t have cut into bite-size, swallowable pieces almost immediately,’’ Archer said.
The fossil was found in the Riversleigh world heritage area, 2000km northwest of Brisbane. The area was once a biodiverse ancient rainforest and the limestone in the area contains the richest fossil deposit of ancient mammals known in Australia.
It has previously yielded bones from towering flightless birds and gigantic freshwater crocodiles. Scientists believe that the newly discovered lion lived in trees and ate birds, snakes and other small animals with its powerful jaws and strong teeth.
– The Times