Thylacoleo replica skeleton posed pouncing on tourists
December 10, 2024 6:44 PM Subscribe
Model of what may have been a real-life drop bear now on display in South Australia. A complete replica skeleton of Australia's largest mammalian predator [the marsupial lion, Thylacoleo, which went extinct around around 40,000 years ago] can now be seen pouncing at tourists visiting South Australia's World Heritage-listed Naracoorte Caves.
Why does the lion look like a zombie ROUS?
While Thylacoleo was a carnivore, Thylacoleo is under the Order Diprotodontia, which is mainly marsupial herbivores like kangaroos, wallabies, possums, koala, wombats. Extinct diprotodonts include the hippopotamus-sized Diprotodon.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 8:12 PM on December 10 [4 favorites]
While Thylacoleo was a carnivore, Thylacoleo is under the Order Diprotodontia, which is mainly marsupial herbivores like kangaroos, wallabies, possums, koala, wombats. Extinct diprotodonts include the hippopotamus-sized Diprotodon.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 8:12 PM on December 10 [4 favorites]
At 150kg (330 lb), it doesn't seem likely to be a direct ancestor of the drop bear, but you never know ...
posted by dg at 10:14 PM on December 10 [1 favorite]
posted by dg at 10:14 PM on December 10 [1 favorite]
a giant bear dropping from trees? wtf.
posted by HearHere at 1:38 AM on December 11 [1 favorite]
posted by HearHere at 1:38 AM on December 11 [1 favorite]
(For anyone who doesn't already know, drop bears are fictional. Unless you count Thylacoleo, which went extinct 40,000 years ago)
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 1:58 AM on December 11
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 1:58 AM on December 11
That’s a lot of years!
posted by Captaintripps at 3:48 AM on December 11
posted by Captaintripps at 3:48 AM on December 11
Australia: Creating new and creative ways to kill you for over 50,000 years
posted by gottabefunky at 7:49 AM on December 11 [2 favorites]
posted by gottabefunky at 7:49 AM on December 11 [2 favorites]
For anyone who doesn't already know, drop bears are fictional...
No, drop bears are our ancestorial memory of the horrors that lived in the primaeval Australian forests.
posted by BlueHorse at 8:32 AM on December 11 [2 favorites]
No, drop bears are our ancestorial memory of the horrors that lived in the primaeval Australian forests.
posted by BlueHorse at 8:32 AM on December 11 [2 favorites]
For anyone who doesn't already know, drop bears are fictional
Can you prove they don't exist?
posted by dg at 1:56 PM on December 11
Can you prove they don't exist?
posted by dg at 1:56 PM on December 11
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Why does the lion look like a zombie ROUS?
Every tenant can now sleep less easy dreaming that the rats in the roof are 6 feet long, undead, and ready to pounce
posted by eustatic at 7:52 PM on December 10 [1 favorite]