Big bite ... Thylacoleo carnifex /AAP
Posted on 04/02/2005 6:50:29 AM PST by yankeedame
Aussie lion beats all in bite test
April 02, 2005
From: AAP
A MARSUPIAL lion that roamed Australia during the Ice Age had the most powerful bite of any known animal in the world, living or extinct, an Australian and Canadian research team has discovered.
More closely related to a wombat than an African lion, the 100 kilo marsupial lion known as Thylacoleo carnifex could out bite the sabre-toothed tiger, the bone-cracking spotted hyena and the Tasmanian Devil. The researchers compared the bite force of the marsupial lion to 38 different species, living and extinct, and found that its jaws were much stronger than any other species for its size.
The team, Colin McHenry of the University of Newcastle, Dr Stephen Wroe of the University of Sydney and Professor Jeffrey Thomason of the University of Guelph in Ontario, published their findings in an online paper for the Proceedings of the Royal Society Series.
"From measurements of skull dimensions we predicted bite force in a wide range of mammalian carnivores," Dr Wroe, a University of Sydney palaeontologist, said.
"I had a hunch the marsupial lion would have a very powerful bite, but we were surprised at just how hard they were biting given their size.
"A good sized marsupial lion could weigh up to 130 kilos - the size of a front row rugby forward."
Related to wombats and koalas, Thylacoleo carnifex is referred to as the marsupial lion because of its robust, cat like appearance, and was capable of grasping its prey with strong semi-opposable thumb claws.
Combined with its powerful jaws and huge incisor teeth, the marsupial lion was the largest mammalian predator in Australia during the Ice Age period and became extinct some time within the last 45,000 years.
"Its biggest prey would have been the Diprotodon, a gigantic wombat-like creature that could weigh over three tonnes," Dr Wroe said.
"Using the same methods we have applied to measure the bite force of the marsupial lion, we can also estimate or predict the maximum prey size of living species."
"Thylacoleo carnifex is referred to as the
marsupial lion because of its robust, cat like
appearance, and was capable of grasping its
prey with strong semi-opposable thumb claws."
This is what it says in the article, unfortunately I must
be suffering a brain vacuum moment. I don't understand
what any of that has to do with being a marsupial.
You're right--that is a neat picture. *LOL*
Well, in Post 62 we have an example of a marsupial with an opposable thumb :-)
LOL!
I love that one!
The last thing Darrel said before they found his body torn in pieces.
Some domestic grazing animals eat grass down to the roots and others graze and get suffficient nourishment without damaging the pasture.
This may actually bolster the argument that socking away bio-carbon in oil and coal reserves caused animals to get smaller. Maybe the net effect was to lower the carbon dioxide concentration, making plants grow more slowly, allowing the big herbivores to devestate an area.
I was part of an experiment once on growing lettuce. The field was covered and an artificial atmosphere of CO2 was introduced (up to a concentration of 5% v/v). The lettuce produced 5 full heads in the time it normally took to grow 1.
Must be English.
You may recall that very small pigmy Mammoth fossils have been found on an island off Siberia.
Supposedly the weather got much colder and the food supply was scarce - the solution was for body mass to reduce over generations.
But they too went the way of their larger ancestors finally.
Early ferns and other fast-growing plants were once huge - as these disappeared perhaps huge animals could not find enough food sources.
But then I am no pretender to expertise on this.
I believe the physical size of Vikings and their animals was reduced as Greenland got much colder and food sources diminished and the settlers all died. They also did not copy the natives in utilizing local food sources.
Vikings on Iceland seem to have gotten thru that period.
I once did a hydroponic experiment for biology once using 2x6's to build a tar waterproof tank and a 3/4" wire mesh tray filled with sawdust - added a plain plumbing faucet on the tank to drain.
I filled the lower tank with water, a bit of fertilizer and a touch of Vigaro - planted tomatos in the sawdust and twice a day poured the bottom liquid over the sawdust until the roots touched the nutrient liquids.
Biggest fastest best tasting tomatos I ever saw.
They say vegetable grow to large sizes in Alaska - why I cannot say.
Then there is the huge Polar Bear - his solution was to eat anything and everyting.
Either thats a terribly inaccurate artist conception in that picture or that creature isnt much of a predator. Carnivorous, OK, but to me the teeth suggest something either very specialized in its prey or a scavenger or something.
Looks like a Liger.
Did your sister turn into a werewombat? LOL
I know we have all four venonmous snakes, but I have never heard one of them referred to as a worm snake. Would you describe your critter?
Small, 2 to 3 inches at most, and the same dirty salmon color of an earthworm, and it travels with the same undulations as a sidewinder does.
We've called them 'worm snakes' forever, now that I think about it, it may be considered an insect instead of a reptile.
Looks like a British seal......
" King Kong doesn't scare me.....but marsupials do........cuz they're FAST."
Judging by my increase in gross mass in the past few years, I would say that a big percentage (maybe 99%) of overall mass was trapped until the SUV's were targeted for elimination. Intent is important in release of overall mass in the world of liberals. They simply go vegetarian and eat mostly tofu in order to counter this ballooning effect. Conservatives eat steaks and balloon as the trapped mass is gradually released. This is a devious plan for liberals to be able to say "big fat Republicans" and be right.
Here tis! :)
LOL. If that doesn't scare the beejeezus out of them, nothing will.
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