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NDTV
25-04-2025
- Science
- NDTV
Fossil Teeth Reveal Secrets Of Extinct Giant Kangaroo's Lifestyle
Wollongong: Large kangaroos today roam long distances across the outback, often surviving droughts by moving in mobs to find new food when pickings are slim. But not all kangaroos have been this way. In new research published today in PLOS One, we found giant kangaroos that once lived in eastern Australia were far less mobile, making them vulnerable to changes in local environmental conditions. We discovered fossilised teeth of the now extinct giant kangaroo genus Protemnodon at Mount Etna Caves, north of Rockhampton, in central eastern Queensland. Analysing the teeth gave us a glimpse into the past movements of these extinct giants, hundreds of thousands of years ago. Our results show Protemnodon did not forage across great distances, instead living in a lush and stable rainforest utopia. However, this utopia began to decline when the climate became drier with more pronounced seasons - spelling doom for Mount Etna's giant roos. Mount Etna Caves The Mount Etna Caves National Park and nearby Capricorn Caves hold remarkable records of life over hundreds of thousands of years. Fossils accumulated in the caves because they acted like giant pitfall traps and also lairs of predators such as thylacines, Tasmanian devils, marsupial lions, owls, raptors and the now-endangered ghost bats. Large parts of the region were once mined for lime and cement. One of us (Hocknull) worked closely with mine managers to safely remove and stockpile fossil deposits from now-destroyed caves for scientific research which still continues. As part of our study we dated fossils using an approach called uranium-series dating, and the sediment around them with a different technique called luminescence dating. Our results suggest the giant kangaroos lived around the caves from at least 500,000 years ago to about 280,000 years ago. After this they disappeared from the Mount Etna fossil record. At the time, Mount Etna hosted a rich rainforest habitat, comparable to modern day New Guinea. As the climate became drier between 280,000 and 205,000 years ago, rainforest-dwelling species including Protemnodon vanished from the area, replaced by those adapted to a dry, arid environment. You are what you eat Our study looked at how far Protemnodon travelled to find food. The general trend in mammals is that bigger creatures range farther. This trend holds for modern kangaroos, so we expected giant extinct kangaroos like Protemnodon would also have had large ranges. Teeth record a chemical signature of the food you eat. By looking at different isotopes of the element strontium in tooth enamel, we can study the foraging ranges of extinct animals. Varying abundances of strontium isotopes reflect the chemical fingerprint of the plants an animal ate, as well as the geology and soils where the plant grew. By matching chemical signatures in the teeth to local signatures in the environment, we could estimate where these ancient animals travelled to obtain food. Eat local, die local Our results showed Protemnodon from Mount Etna didn't travel far beyond the local limestone in which the caves and fossils were found. This is much a smaller range than we predicted range based on their body mass. We think the small foraging range of Protemnodon at Mount Etna was an adaptation to millions of years of stable food supply in the rainforest. They likely had little need to travel to find food. Fossil evidence also suggests some species of Protemnodon walked on all fours rather than hopped. This would have constrained their ability to travel great distances, but is a great strategy for living in rainforests. One question remains to be answered: if they didn't need to move far to find food, why did they grow so big in the first place? A local adaptation or a species trait? The extinction of Australia's megafauna - long-vanished beasts such the "marsupial lion" Thylacoleo and the three-tonne Diprotodon - has long been debated. It has often been assumed that megafauna species responded in the same way to environmental changes wherever they lived. However, we may have underestimated the role of local adaptations. This particularly holds true for Protemnodon, with a recent study suggesting significant variation in diet and movement across different environments. Similar small foraging ranges have been suggested for Protemnodon that lived near Bingara and Wellington Caves, New South Wales. Perhaps it was common for Protemnodon populations in stable habitats across eastern Australia to be homebodies - and this may have proved their Achilles' heel when environmental conditions changed. Extinction, one by one As a rule, creatures with a small home range have a limited ability to move elsewhere. So if the something happens to their local habitat, they may be in big trouble. At Mount Etna, Protemnodon thrived for hundreds of thousands of years in the stable rainforest environment. But as the environment became more arid, and resources increasingly patchy, they may have been unable to traverse the growing gaps between patches of forest or retreat elsewhere. One key result of our study is that Protodemnon was locally extinct at Mt Etna long before humans turned up, which rules out human influence. The techniques used in this study will help us to learn about how Australia's megafauna responded to changing environments in more detail. This approach moves the Australian megafauna extinction debate away from the traditional continental catch-all hypotheses - instead we can look at local populations in specific sites, and understand the unique factors driving local extinction events. Christopher Laurikainen Gaete, PhD Candidate, University of Wollongong; Anthony Dosseto, Professor of Geochemistry, University of Wollongong; Lee Arnold, Associate Professor in Earth Sciences, University of Adelaide, University of Wollongong, and Scott Hocknull, Senior Scientist and Curator, Geosciences, Queensland Museum, and Honorary Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. (Authors: Christopher Laurikainen Gaete PhD Candidate, University of Wollongong Anthony Dosset Professor of Geochemistry, University of Wollongong Lee Arnold Associate Professor in Earth Sciences, University of Adelaide, University of Wollongong Scott Hocknull Senior Scientist and Curator, Geosciences, Queensland Museum, and Honorary Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne) (Disclosure statement: The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.)


CNN
08-02-2025
- Science
- CNN
Scientists produced world's first kangaroo embryo through IVF. It has sparked hope for marsupial conservation
Scientists in Australia have successfully produced the world's first kangaroo embryo through in vitro fertilization, or IVF, a feat they hailed as a 'ground-breaking achievement' that could one day help save endangered species. The research could be pivotal for Australia's conservation efforts, given the country's urgent need to protect its endemic species after having one of the world's worst extinction records. Australia has lost at least 33 mammal species since European settlement of the already inhabited continent, according to Australian non-profit Invasive Species Council, a higher rate of extinction than other continent on Earth in recent history. While the eastern grey kangaroos used in this trial are not endangered, many of Australia's marsupial species are, including koalas and Tasmanian devils. Scientists at the University of Queensland first assessed how kangaroo eggs and sperm developed in a laboratory, before injecting a single sperm directly into a mature egg, using a technique known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection, the university said Thursday. Andres Gambini, who led the research into the kangaroo embryo, said the technique could be applied to other animals under the threat of extinction. 'Our ultimate goal is to support the preservation of endangered marsupial species like koalas, Tasmanian devils, northern hairy-nosed wombats and Leadbeater's possums,' he said, referring to mammals that carry their young in pouches and are an iconic feature of Australia's unusual fauna. 'Access to marsupial tissues is challenging as they are less studied than domestic animals despite being iconic and integral to Australian biodiversity,' he added. In 2022, the Australian government announced a 10-year plan to eliminate further extinctions, which included efforts to conserve more than 30% of land mass and protect 110 priority species across the country. More than 2,200 species and ecosystems in Australia are classified as threatened with extinction, according to a 2023 report by non-profit Australian Conservation Foundation. CNN's Jay Ganglani contributed reporting.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Australia creates first kangaroo embryo using IVF
Australian-based scientists have produced the world's first kangaroo embryo through in vitro fertilisation, hailing it as a key step towards saving endangered marsupials. The University of Queensland-led team said it employed the technique on eastern grey kangaroos – which number in the millions – with the aim of eventually using IVF for rarer marsupials. 'Australia is home to the greatest diversity of marsupial fauna on the planet but it also has the highest mammal extinction rate,' Andres Gambini, lead researcher, said in a statement. 'Our ultimate goal is to support the preservation of endangered marsupial species such as koalas, Tasmanian devils, northern hairy-nosed wombats and Leadbeater's possums.' Scientists produced the embryos using a technique that involves injecting a single sperm directly into a mature egg. 'Because eastern grey kangaroos are overabundant, we collected their eggs and sperm for use as a model to adapt the embryo technologies already applied to domestic animals and humans,' Mr Gambini said. 'We are now refining techniques to collect, culture and preserve marsupial eggs and sperm.' With the right collaboration, funding and technical advancements, an IVF-assisted marsupial birth might be possible within a decade, the researcher said. Overall kangaroo numbers fluctuate between 30 million and 60 million in Australia, and they are frequently culled to keep populations in check. The animals have a 'boom and bust' population cycle – when fodder is plentiful on the back of a good wet season, their numbers can balloon by tens of millions. But other marsupial populations are far more precarious. It is estimated that only 20,000 to 50,000 Tasmanian devils live in the wild, for example, down from as many as 150,000 before a mysterious, facial tumour disease struck in the mid-1990s. The kangaroo IVF research was published in the peer-reviewed journal Reproductive, Fertility and Development. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.


CBS News
06-02-2025
- Science
- CBS News
First IVF kangaroo embryo claimed by Australia-based scientists
Australia-based scientists said Thursday they had produced the world's first kangaroo embryo through in vitro fertilization and hailed it as a key step towards saving endangered marsupials. The University of Queensland-led team said it employed the technique on eastern grey kangaroos -- which number in the millions -- with the aim of eventually using IVF for scarcer marsupials. "Australia is home to the greatest diversity of marsupial fauna on the planet but it also has the highest mammal extinction rate," lead researcher Andres Gambini said in a statement. "Our ultimate goal is to support the preservation of endangered marsupial species like koalas, Tasmanian devils, northern hairy-nosed wombats and Leadbeater's possums." Scientists produced the embryos by a technique that involves injecting a single sperm directly into a mature egg. "Because eastern grey kangaroos are overabundant, we collected their eggs and sperm for use as a model to adapt the embryo technologies already applied to domestic animals and humans," Gambini said. "We are now refining techniques to collect, culture and preserve marsupial eggs and sperm." With the right collaboration, funding and technical advancements, an IVF-assisted marsupial birth might be possible within a decade, the researcher said. Overall kangaroo numbers fluctuate between 30 million and 60 million in Australia, and they're frequently culled to keep populations in check. The animals have a "boom and bust" population cycle -- when food is plentiful following a good wet season, their numbers can balloon by tens of millions. But some other marsupial populations are far more precarious. It's estimated that there are only 20,000 to 50,000 Tasmanian devils in the wild, for example, down from as many as 150,000 before a mysterious facial tumor disease first struck in the mid-1990s. The kangaroo IVF research was published in the peer-reviewed journal Reproductive, Fertility and Development.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists produced world's first kangaroo embryo through IVF. It has sparked hope for marsupial conservation
Scientists in Australia have successfully produced the world's first kangaroo embryo through in vitro fertilization, or IVF, a feat they hailed as a 'ground-breaking achievement' that could one day help save endangered species. The research could be pivotal for Australia's conservation efforts, given the country's urgent need to protect its endemic species after having one of the world's worst extinction records. Australia has lost at least 33 mammal species since European settlement of the already inhabited continent, according to Australian non-profit Invasive Species Council, a higher rate of extinction than other continent on Earth in recent history. While the eastern grey kangaroos used in this trial are not endangered, many of Australia's marsupial species are, including koalas and Tasmanian devils. Scientists at the University of Queensland first assessed how kangaroo eggs and sperm developed in a laboratory, before injecting a single sperm directly into a mature egg, using a technique known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection, the university said Thursday. Andres Gambini, who led the research into the kangaroo embryo, said the technique could be applied to other animals under the threat of extinction. 'Our ultimate goal is to support the preservation of endangered marsupial species like koalas, Tasmanian devils, northern hairy-nosed wombats and Leadbeater's possums,' he said, referring to mammals that carry their young in pouches and are an iconic feature of Australia's unusual fauna. 'Access to marsupial tissues is challenging as they are less studied than domestic animals despite being iconic and integral to Australian biodiversity,' he added. In 2022, the Australian government announced a 10-year plan to eliminate further extinctions, which included efforts to conserve more than 30% of land mass and protect 110 priority species across the country. More than 2,200 species and ecosystems in Australia are classified as threatened with extinction, according to a 2023 report by non-profit Australian Conservation Foundation. CNN's Jay Ganglani contributed reporting.