Procoptodon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Procoptodon |
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| Artist's impression of Procoptodon goliah | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Diprotodontia |
| Family: | Macropodidae |
| Subfamily: | †Sthenurinae |
| Genus: | †Procoptodon Owen, 1873 |
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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
