Diprotodon - A Marsupial of the Pleistocene
Diprotodon was a member of a family called Diprontidae. The name Diprotodon literally means "two forward teeth". These large mammals lived in Australia from 1.6 million to about 50,000 years ago, which was during the Pleistocene.
Diprotodon was a marsupial. This creature had a height of up to 1.7 m. (5 feet and 7 inchees). The body was about 3 m. (10 feet) long. Diprotodon was definitely a giant. The weight was around 2500 kg. for males. Females weighed close to 1000 kg.
Diprotodon was an herbivore and inhabited forests and open woodlands. Its diet included trees and shrubs. The front feet of Diprotodon had claws, which may have been used to dig roots. Some footprints of Diprotodon's hairy feet have been found; this shows that the animal had hair.
Numerous fossils of Diprotodon have been found in Australia. It went extinct and left no direct descendants. The closest living relatives of Diprotodon are wombats.
Diprotodon was the largest known marsupial to ever existed. It is believed to have lived in herds.
Neal Robbins
P.S. The taxonomy of Diprotodon is:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Subclass: Marsupiala
Order: Diprotodontia
Suborder: Vombatiformes
Family: Diprotodontidae
Genus: Diprotodon
The species are:
Diprotodon opatum
D. minor
D. loderi
D. annextans
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