This giant marsupial was a seasonal migrant
Summary:
The largest marsupial1 to ever walk the Earth just got another accolade: It’s also the only marsupial known to migrate seasonally.
Diprotodon optatum was a herbivore that lived in what’s now Australia and New Guinea during the Pleistocene2, until about 40,000 years ago. Now, an analysis of one animal’s teeth suggests that it undertook long, seasonal migrations.
Diprotodon optatum was a herbivore that lived in what’s now Australia and New Guinea during the Pleistocene2, until about 40,000 years ago. Now, an analysis of one animal’s teeth suggests that it undertook long, seasonal migrations.
Animals pick up the chemical element strontium3 through their diet, and it leaves a record in their teeth. The ratio of different strontium isotopes4 varies from place to place, so it can provide clues about where an animal lived. Optatum revealed a repeating pattern, the animal emigrated seasonally.
This is the first evidence to show a marsupial migrating in this way. This mega-marsupial might have migrated to follow food sources that popped up seasonally in different places.
Link:
https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/giant-marsupial-was-seasonal-migrant?tgt=nr
Publication date:
26/09/17
Scientific field:
Paleontology
Glossary:
1. Marsupial: Marsupials are an underclass of mammalian metaterms.
2. Pleistocene: Is a division of the geological temporal scale that belongs to the Quaternary period.
3. Element strontium: Strontium is a soft, shiny silver metal, somewhat malleable.
4. Isotopes: Atoms of the same element, whose nuclei have a different amount of neutrons.
Analysis comment:
This article explains a new characteristic of giant marsupials. The new characteristic is that they might have migrated long distances, much like today’s zebras or wildebeests. The marsupial specie I am talking about is Diprotodon optatum, one of the biggest species of marsupials.
I think that this discovery about ancient species is very curious and interesting, because there are not many species that emigrated seasonally, and I believe that we should investigate more about new and old species, even if they are extinct, because it can help us in some topics on the evolution of species.
Many times we believe that we already know everything about different animals, or that we don’t need to know anything else about them, but this is a big mistake because there are issues that, although we don’t believe it, can be important today and provide us new interesting information.
So I think the new information we are discovering, however i'ts small may be, is interesting and important for us.
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