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head was crowned with a longish trunk. Surely this sight would have been enough to give any newly arrived Aboriginals second thoughts about settling. And there is little doubt that Palorchestes azael and humans were acquainted. In fact, they co-existed in Australia between about 40-20,000 years ago." head was crowned with a longish trunk. Surely this sight rather immobile forelimbs that were locked at the elbows, claws would have been enough to give any newly arrived that almost prevented the animal the ability to move about Aboriginals second thoughts about settling. And there is (though they may have been retractable), and somewhat delicate little doubt that Palorchestes azael and humans were hindlimbs. This arrangement would appear to hinder a large and acquainted. In fact, they co-existed in Australia between heavy animal as it wandered slowly about, looking for food. In a about 40-20,000 years ago." land full of powerfully built marsupial lions that were adapted to prey on big mammals and giant goannas that grew to almost the In Riversleigh: The Story of Animals in Ancient Rainforests of size and weight of an Allosaurus dinosaur, it is perhaps unlikely Inland Australia (1991), further details are provided:” that these animals staggered slowly about, ripping up bulbs and "The Palorchestids are the other half of the Diprotodontid roots or the bark and limbs off trees. The almost immobile fore- radiation—their weird half-brothers. The Pleistocene and limbs and great claws appear to be adaptations for a very spe- last-surviving species, Palorchestes azael, was about the cialised way of life that has nothing to do with walking about or size of a horse. In body shape it resembled no other climbing trees. creature known. It had huge koala-like claws, enormously Now this may be a long shot, but perhaps these adaptations powerful forelimbs, a long ribbon-like tongue and a large were required for a sedentary aquatic lifestyle where the giant elephantine trunk. Until the skeleton is adequately claws and relatively immobile front legs gripped the substrate of studied, speculation about what it did for a living will sunken logs and rocks whilst the elongated snout and tongue continue. Although we are certain that it was a herbivore, moved about, dragging in vegetation. With the buoyancy provid- we are not at all certain about the kinds of plants it ate. In ed by water, this heavy beast with delicate hind limbs and immo- contrast to its Diprotodontid cousins, its high-crowned, bile front limbs may well have found it easier to move about with- complex teeth probably could have withstood the abrasive in swamps and marshes, feeding on reeds and thereby avoiding effects of a grass diet, but this the powerful terrestrial predators of the simple interpretation feels hollow time. With a limited habitat of wet- when its peculiar limbs, claws lands, each individual would indee and trunk are considered." . need a large territory, which it woul He received dozens of reports define with far-carrying bellowing In Kadimakara: Extinct Vertebrates between 1947 and 1973 from roars. It would be a rare animal wit of Australia (1985), further information Aborigines, graziers and tourists, slow, low rates of reproduction. is given on this most bizarre animal:” The probably young kinepratia g Pp y young P : "In 1874 Sir Richard Owen describing the animals sunbaking observed in the extensive marshes 0 described the first-known speci- on the riverbank. swimming the Murrumbidgee in May 1847 was men of Palorchestes azael... The . > described as "having an awkwar specimen, consisting of the ante- against the current and shambling gallop and the forequarters rior part of the skull...was discov- thrashing about in the water. of the animal were very large in pro- ered in the year 1851 by Dr portion to the hindquarters", which Ludwig Becker in a bed of yel- fits with the descriptions of the fossil lowish sand and clay mixed with marsupial tapir. Such an anima very small shells, in the Province of would also fit with William Buckley's Victoria. The distribution and abundance of Palorchestes "very extraordinary amphibious animal, which the natives cal bones can give some clues, which are useful in recon- Bun-yip, of which I could never see any part except the back, structing the ecology and habitat of these animals. Their which appeared to be covered with feathers of a dusky-grey remains are rare everywhere, indicating that perhaps they colour"—which may well have been the extensive mane that was were solitary animals. This apparent rarity could have sev- so frequently described. Perhaps the "elongated neck and hea eral causes. If one assumes that their rarity as fossils resembling an emu" may have been the trunk of the marsupia reflects their rarity as live animals, it is probable that they tapir extending up into the air as the animal fed on waterside had low rates of reproduction and occupied relatively foliage. large territories or home ranges. The identity of the bunyip has to be addressed. In the past it "The skeletons of the species of Palorchestes are highly has been pushed aside with explanations that the Aboriginal peo- unusual. Perhaps their most striking feature is the structure ple, who had inhabited the land for something like 50,000 years, of the front legs... The nature of the articulation of the were a superstitious and ignorant lot who still had not worked out upper and lower arm bones in Palorchestes azael is very what lived in their own supermarket. European settlers who unusual and appears to indicate that this joint was observed the bunyip were regarded as obviously of the same ilk. immobile, the front legs being permanently locked in a Consequently the bunyip has been turned into a children's fairy- partly flexed position... The finger bones possess large, tale character. semi-circular articulations and appear to have been highly Perhaps more likely it was a remarkable remnant of Australia's mobile, but only in a forwards-backwards direction. In megafauna, a solitary aquatic herbivore on the edge of extinction, comparison with the forelimb, the hindlimb was delicate... surrounded on all sides by predatory humans. With the arrival of The massive claws must have presented a problem to the Europeans and their cattle competing for forage, the massive habi- species of Palorchestes, assuming that they walked on the tat destruction with widespread wetland drainage and silting up of ground." the waterways, yet another ancient life form departed this rapidly emptying continent. oo Ga hara wu In Riversleigh: The Story of Animals in Ancient Rainforests of Inland Australia (1991), further details are provided:” "The Palorchestids are the other half of the Diprotodontid radiation—their weird half-brothers. The Pleistocene and last-surviving species, Palorchestes azael, was about the size of a horse. In body shape it resembled no other creature known. It had huge koala-like claws, enormously powerful forelimbs, a long ribbon-like tongue and a large elephantine trunk. Until the skeleton is adequately studied, speculation about what it did for a living will continue. Although we are certain that it was a herbivore, we are not at all certain about the kinds of plants it ate. In contrast to its Diprotodontid cousins, its high-crowned, complex teeth probably could have withstood the abrasive effects of a grass diet, but this simple interpretation feels hollow when its peculiar limbs, claws and trunk are considered." He received do: So here we have a very large animal with a smallish head, per- haps on a somewhat elongated thick neck, with powerful though NEXUS = 65 Continued on page 85 DECEMBER 2001 — JANUARY 2002 www.nexusmagazine.com