Ancient Kangaroos Walked Like Men, Scientists Say
The ancient kangaroo family sthenurine, which roamed Austraila until about 30,000 years ago, probably wouldn’t have triggered your Kangaroo Jack nostalgia (or if you’re like me, PTSD). It’s true that in some ways they were relatively like modern roos. They did have a long tail and a generally kangaroo-shaped body. But they also had short, rabbit-like faces. They weighed up to 550 pounds. Some stood more than six-and-a-half feet tall. And they put one leg ahead of the other to walk just like you do, recent research suggests. Christine Janis, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Brown University started investigating how the roos walked when she noticed at a museum that a fossil skeleton of sthenurine, also called a short-faced kangaroo, had a sturdy, stiff spine. That’d be a big drawback if they were like modern kangaroos, who hop when moving fast and get around on all fours plus some help from their tail when moving slow (pentapedal locomotion). In addition to a flexible spine they’d need a strong