Palaeoecology Marsupial lion

mounted display of thylacoleo carnifex @ wonambi fossil centre, naracoorte caves national park, south australia.

numerous fossil discoveries indicate marsupial lion distributed across of australian continent. large proportion of environment have been similar southern third of australia today, semiarid, open scrub , woodland punctuated waterholes , water courses.

it have coexisted many of so-called australian megafauna such diprotodon, giant kangaroos, , megalania, giant wallabies protemnodon, giant wombat phascolonus, , thunderbird genyornis.

australia s pleistocene megafauna have been prey agile t. carnifex, adapted hunting large animals, not particularly suited catching smaller prey. relatively quick reduction in numbers of primary food source around 40,000 50,000 years ago led decline , eventual extinction of marsupial lion. arrival of humans in australia , use of fire-stick farming precipitated decline. extinction of t. carnifex makes australia unique other continents because no substantial, apex mammalian predators have replaced marsupial lions after disappearance.