#palorchestes

[boobookittenartblog]

A mother marsupial tapir (Palorchestes azael) browses on a mountain gum while her joey peeks from her pouch.

Artwork by Peter Schouten

[horrible-lizards]

Palorchestes, 1988

[dry-gold]

Most interesting extinct australian animal starting with 'P'

Palorchestes

Pelargornis

Phascolonus

Phoeniconotius

Platypterygius

Procoptodon

Voting ended onFeb 2, 2024

Palorchestes, a cenozoic weird-faced marsupial Pelagornis, a cenozoic pseudotoothed birds Phascolonus, a cenozoic giant wombat Phoeniconotius, a cenozoic buff flamingo Platypterygius, a cretaceous icthyosaur Procoptodon, a cenozoic short-faced kangaroo

[otussketching]

Dear Palorchestes: What on Earth happened with your face? 

Sincerely, everyone who has had to look at your weird marsupial skull.

In all seriousness, Palorchestes was a very unusual animal. It lived in Australia during the pleistocene (which explains it’s weirdness), and lived alongside more famous giant marsupials, like Procoptodon, Diprotodon, Thylacoleo and the like. It lived in more forested areas, where they browsed for soft leaves. It was very big, large individuals were well over a tonne in weight , and up to 2 tonnes according to some estimates. Palorchestes was a very bulky animal. It could rear up on its hind legs to reach leaves higher up, like a bear. It also had an immobile elbow joint (wait what?!).

Palorchestes is so weird that it has went through many revisions. Originally it was thought to be a type of giant kangaroo. (Palorchestes means “Ancient leaper”), and then famously as a sort of marsupial tapir, complete with a trunk. We now know that Palrochestes likely didn’t have a trunk. Instead, it had prehensile lips. Palorchestes in a more modern light seems to be like a strange combination of a wombat and a ground sloth. In other words, an adorable fuzzy weirdo.

[ratsfanaccount]

First animals to be bullied to death

[thylacine-dreams]

A clip from Prehistoric Australia (1995), a stop-motion animation “documentary” featuring various Australian megafauna including Procoptodon, Diprotodon, Thylacoleo and of course thylacines.

[home-sheepo]

Feel like pure shit just want Palorchestes back

[j-gold-art]

Available on Redbubble!

thylacosmilus, thylacoleo,repenomammus, palochestes