500-Pound Extinct Marsupial Had the Perfect Legs, Feet For Taking Long Walks

Paleontologists from Flinders University were able to describe one of the first known long-distance walkers in Australia.

Diprotodontids

Science Alert reports that researchers from Flinders University were able to unearth a skeleton that eroded from a cliff face over the Warburton River back in 2017. The skeleton was found to belong to the Diprotodontidae family, which comprises four-legged herbivores that were among the biggest marsupials to have existed.

Jacob van Zoelen, a PhD candidate from the Paleontology Laboratory at the university, explains that diprotodontids are distant relatives of wombats. Hence, this means that there is nothing like the creature at present. Because of this, the researchers found it difficult to reconstruct the biology of the species, Science Daily reports.

The biggest species in the said family is Diprotodon optatum, which can weigh up to 2.7 tons and grow to be car-sized. Such a family of species was vital to the ecosystem of Australia before it went extinct roughly 40,000 years ago.

Now, in a new study reported in the Royal Society Open Science journal, further analysis of this unique species has been laid out in detail. This offers fresh insight regarding the life and movement of the species.

Ambulator: the Extinct Long-Distance Walker

According to Science Daily, they have named the new genus Ambulator, which means wanderer or walker. Such a name was granted due to the locomotory adaptations of the creature's feet and legs. This would have enabled it to walk long distances in pursuit of water and food.

The researchers note how rare it is to find several bones that belong to one specific skeleton in a record. Hence, the newly described skeleton is vital and special, being the first to be linked to soft tissue structures.

The authors compared the bones with over 2,000 elements of diprotodontid from global museums. This makes their analysis the most comprehensive appraisal of such skeletons.

The researchers report in the Conversation that they performed 3D scanning on the bones and that their files are available for public access.

Animal Walkers

Now, while walking may not seem like a specialized skill, any movements for big creatures could have serious energy costs. Hence, it is important for them to be efficient.

Most giant herbivores today tiptoe around, which makes them unguligrade. Their ankles and wrists do not hit the ground. Diprotodontids, on the other hand, are plantigrade, which means that their heel bone hits the ground as they walk. This is similar to the feet of humans.

Such stances enable them to even out their weight and reduce their loss of energy as they walk. However, they do expend more energy for other types of activities, including walking.

Several diprotodontids also have platigrady hands, as evidenced by their modified wrist bones that serve as a secondary heel. Such heels make early skeletal reconstructions appear awkward and bizarre, Science Alert reports.

Walkers did not appear in the fossil record until the Pliocene period, which took place around 3.5 million years ago. Science Alert reports that, in fact, Ambulator keanei is the earliest known diprotodontid that had such specialized walking capacity. This creature could have been around during the Pliocene, and they may have had to travel longer distances in order to access the food they wanted and sufficient water.

Creatures like the Ambulator could have walked longer distances more efficiently than others. While this is something that scientists cannot witness at present, the findings reveal that it was once common across Australia.

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