Killer kangaroo, demon duck of doom roamed Outback

dr. what · Post by **dr. what** » 2006-07-12 09:33am

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Forget cute, cuddly marsupials. A team of Australian palaeontologists say they have found the fossilised remains of a fanged killer kangaroo and what they describe as a "demon duck of doom".

A University of New South Wales team said the fearsome fossils were among 20 previously unknown species uncovered at a site in northwest Queensland state.

Professor Michael Archer said on Wednesday the remains of a meat-eating kangaroo with wolf-like fangs were found as well as a galloping kangaroo with long forearms that could not hop like a modern kangaroo.

"Because they didn't hop, these were galloping kangaroos, with big, powerful forelimbs. Some of them had long canines (fangs) like wolves," Archer told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio.

Vertebrate palaeontologist Sue Hand said modern kangaroos look almost nothing like their ferocious forebears, which lived between 10 million and 20 million years ago.

The species found at the dig had "well muscled-in teeth, not for grazing. These things had slicing crests that could have crunched through bone and sliced off flesh", Hand said.

The team also found prehistoric lungfish and large duck-like birds.

"Very big birds ... more like ducks, earned the name 'demon duck of doom', some at least may have been carnivorous as well," Hand told ABC radio.

Archer said the team was studying the fossils to better understand how they were affected by changing climates in the Miocene epoch between 5 million and 24 million years ago.

Covenant · Post by **Covenant** » 2006-07-12 01:22pm

The spotted Seussadon is still my favorite outback predator, but giant ducks and maneating 'roos are certainly awesome in theory.

Crossroads Inc. · Post by **Crossroads Inc.** » 2006-07-12 02:52pm

Sweet crap on a crap! MEAT Eating Roos? I want pics, I want Pics!!!

Post by **Edi** » 2006-07-12 03:00pm

Australia is really interesting from the paleontological perspective, they've got shitloads of really strange stuff. Plus they found some basically dinosaur age plants that were live and essentially unaltered a few years back. It was in some little dell somewhere in the middle of the outback that was shady and moist enough to support them. Damn, I really want to go and visit the place sometime.

Edi

Dominus Atheos · Post by **Dominus Atheos** » 2006-07-12 03:26pm

The 'demon duck of doom' doesn't sound all that bad...

Duckie · Post by **Duckie** » 2006-07-12 04:00pm

Dominus Atheos wrote:The 'demon duck of doom' doesn't sound all that bad...

Well, I try but it's very hard to be a threatening duck.

dr. what · Post by **dr. what** » 2006-07-12 04:17pm

Crossroads Inc. wrote:Sweet crap on a crap! MEAT Eating Roos? I want pics, I want Pics!!!

linky

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2006-07-12 05:47pm

^I wonder how fast the carnivores could go.

Spin Echo · Post by **Spin Echo** » 2006-07-12 07:20pm

dr. what wrote:
Crossroads Inc. wrote:Sweet crap on a crap! MEAT Eating Roos? I want pics, I want Pics!!!
<picture snip>

Don't forget about the drop bears!

Crossroads Inc. · Post by **Crossroads Inc.** » 2006-07-12 07:42pm

Spin Echo wrote:
dr. what wrote:
Crossroads Inc. wrote:Sweet crap on a crap! MEAT Eating Roos? I want pics, I want Pics!!!
<picture snip>
Don't forget about the drop bears!

Oh My GOD! Do not even start with trhe Drop bears! I had a friend who was down in Sydny a year ago and he almost had his ARM chewed off by one! Spent almost a month in intensive care before he could go home!

<_<
>_>

Spin Echo · Post by **Spin Echo** » 2006-07-12 08:00pm

Crossroads Inc. wrote:
Oh My GOD! Do not even start with trhe Drop bears! I had a friend who was down in Sydny a year ago and he almost had his ARM chewed off by one! Spent almost a month in intensive care before he could go home!

<_<
>_>

Sydney? Didn't think they strayed too much into the cities. I was at a conference in one of the national parks this past summer and at the beginning of it, there was about a half an hour of warnings of creatures to be wary of. I guess the area is partly prone to drop bear attacks. No one got mauled while we were there, though.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2006-07-12 09:33pm

WTF is a "Drop Bear"?

SAMAS · Post by **SAMAS** » 2006-07-12 09:44pm

An aussie joke, apparently. About carnivorous Koalas.

Lusankya · Post by **Lusankya** » 2006-07-13 12:02am

They're actually matured koalas. That's why we have culling programs. After they eat enough gum leaves, they metamorphose into drop bears.

It's a shame they didn't go extinct with all the other ferocious marsupials.

BTW, Crossroads: Your friend's lucky. Generally your head's ripped off before you get a chance to get to hospital. How did they get the drop bear off of him?

ROAR!!!!! says GOJIRA!!!!!

Post by **weemadando** » 2006-07-13 04:01am

Seriously, if you're unlucky enough to get one on your head - its over. Those long claws and they just clasp at the neck, generally tearing some major blood vessels.

Master Arachnos · Post by **Master Arachnos** » 2006-07-13 05:14am

It makes you wonder how all the convicts survived when we shipped them over...

I now have an image of 18th Century Australia being like Alien 3.......

Post by **Gandalf** » 2006-07-13 05:20am

Master Arachnos wrote:It makes you wonder how all the convicts survived when we shipped them over...

We kept the fuck away from the trees.

That's why woodlands were such great hiding places for bushrangers hiding from the British authorities.

Post by **weemadando** » 2006-07-13 06:19am

And the real reason why Ned Kelly built his suit of armour. Fuck bullets. The drop-bears scared him.

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2006-07-13 07:43am

Master Arachnos wrote:It makes you wonder how all the convicts survived when we shipped them over...

Britain had a lot of convicts to get rid of.

The Vodka Vindicator · Post by **The Vodka Vindicator** » 2006-07-16 03:32pm

dr. what wrote:
Crossroads Inc. wrote:Sweet crap on a crap! MEAT Eating Roos? I want pics, I want Pics!!!
linky

Well that doesn't look so scary to me.

Alan Bolte · Post by **Alan Bolte** » 2006-07-16 04:03pm

Click on the link dr. what gave, there's a great big koala-roo.

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2006-07-16 04:29pm

Dominus Atheos wrote:The 'demon duck of doom' doesn't sound all that bad...

I'd imagine it'd be very distracting, though.

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2006-07-16 05:14pm

Drooling Iguana wrote:
Dominus Atheos wrote:The 'demon duck of doom' doesn't sound all that bad...
I'd imagine it'd be very distracting, though.

Exactly what I was thinking.

Obscure reference for the win.

Still, it is kind of odd that the scientists would actually call it that. Then again, they're were the "Hobbits" of last year...

Neko_Oni · Post by **Neko_Oni** » 2006-07-17 12:22am

weemadando wrote:And the real reason why Ned Kelly built his suit of armour. Fuck bullets. The drop-bears scared him.

Ah drop bears, my favourite aussie "myth". Sigged.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2006-07-17 12:29am

Gandalf wrote:
Master Arachnos wrote:It makes you wonder how all the convicts survived when we shipped them over...
We kept the fuck away from the trees.

That's why woodlands were such great hiding places for bushrangers hiding from the British authorities.

yes but how did capt. donahoe and co. placate the Tasmaian Devils and the Drop Bears?