Marsupial carnivores 'as diverse as other mammals once' (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

They are an extraordinary and now rare group of animals but Earth has had some formidable marsupial carnivores.

These pouched killers have included lions, wolves, and even sabretooths.

Today, the only large marsupial carnivore left in existence is the Tasmanian Devil, and that is on the brink of extinction.

These animals' past success though is illustrated by a new skull study that reveals the creatures to have been just as diverse as their cousins, the placental mammals.

An international team examined the skulls of some 130 carnivores - marsupial and placental, living and extinct - from the past 40 million years.
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11824762




If only intelligent, anthropoid marsupials had evolved before placental humans -- how much easier birth would be, and no limits on cranium size due to the birth canal!

[RZM]

1. Thanks for posting this

I love learning about extinct mammals. Dinosaurs-shminosaurs, I say ;)

[Twillig]

2. "Dinosaurs-shminosaurs" exactly!

Marc Maron did a recent podcast at the 'creation museum' and said the theme of it was
"Dinosaurs and People lived together, hey presto! problem solved."

I want to know how Noah got all the Marsupials to Oz. Fuck the dinosaurs. It must have been one gigantic pain in the ass to travel all that way down under. Most everybody else would have scuttled the ship in the harbor.

WTFPOD non-itunes link!

Not Safe for Work. Lot's of "fuck" and creationist ridicule!
http://wtfpod.libsyn.com/episode-123-the-creation-museum

[dimbear]

3. Clearly the struggle twixt marsupials and placentals is one sided...

Once the land bridge at Panama closed up, the placentals exterminated the marsupials in South America in a geological eyeblink. Except for a few stragglers, of course. Marsupials just can't keep up.

Probably due to the joys of pregnancy.