Procoptodon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Procoptodon Temporal range: Pleistocene PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Artist's impression of Procoptodon goliah
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Marsupialia
Order:	Diprotodontia
Family:	Macropodidae
Subfamily:	†Sthenurinae
Genus:	†Procoptodon Owen, 1873
Species
P. browneorum (Merrilees, 1968) P. cegsai (Pledge, 1992) P. gilli (Merrilees, 1968) P. goliah (Owen, 1845) (type species) P. maddocki (Flannery & Hope, 1984) P. mccoyi (Turnbull, Lundelius & Tedford, 1992) P. oreas (De Vis, 1895) P. otuel Owen, 1874 P. pusio Owen, 1874 P. rapha Owen, 1874 P. texasensis Archer, 1978 P. williamsi Prideaux, 2004

Procoptodon is a genus of giant short-faced kangaroo living in Australia during the Pleistocene epoch.

P. goliah was the largest kangaroo known to have existed. It stood about 2 m (6.6 ft) tall. They weighed about 200–240 kg (440–530 lb). Other members of the genus were smaller. Procoptodon gilli was the smallest of the genus, only about 1 m (3 ft 3 in) tall.

They were browsers, not grazers like kangaroos today. They ate leaves from trees and shrubs. Their weight makes it likely that they did not hop as their relatives do today. A combination of climate change (cooling and shrinking of forest areas) would have reduced their natural habitat. Predation (hunting) by aboriginal humans probably happened.

Saltbushes were their main food source, so Procoptodon goliah relied on free-standing water to help process its salt-laden diet.

Images for kids

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  Restoration of P. goliah browsing for food

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  Life restoration of a bipedal P. goliah compared to human

See also

In Spanish: Procoptodon para niños