The 3 tonne ( 3.3 US long ton ) wombats that roamed Australia during the Ice Age undertake great seasonal migrations , presumably for food . This is the first time this behavior has been get hold in marsupials , despite being common among large vegetarian mammalian .
Australia ’s environs was once prevail by diprotodons , elephantine relative of wombats that were comparable to rhino in sizing . They were so tremendous and so numerous that their loss belike had a large impact on the continent . But since scientists have never had the chance to hit the books one directly , we screw footling about their behavior .
Dr Gilbert Priceof the University of Queensland has fill in one piece of the mystifier , however , by prove the fossilized incisor ofDiprotodon optatum , the largest marsupial of all time .
“ It goes back to that old allege ‘ you are what you eat ’ , because the chemical substance of the food they consume became part of their teeth , ” Price say in astatement . “ But it ’s also rightful that ‘ you are where you eat ’ , peculiarly if you are a plant feeder , because the geochemistry of the soils where plants grow also become fixed into a herbivore ’s tooth . ”
By analyzing the enamel layers of oneD. optatumindividual , Price found that the species migrate at least 200 kilometers ( 120 miles ) each year across the Darling Downs . The findings are reported inProceedings of the Royal Society B.
Although minuscule bird transmigrate 100 times further , seasonal migrations are normally restrict to large species of mammalian . Large beasts are in peril of wipe out all the locally available solid food , particularly if , likeD. optatum , they live in herd . The pauperism to keep move to feel fresh pastures could easily have led to regular migrations influenced by rainfall patterns .
We do n’t yet know whether other members of the diprotodontid crime syndicate did the same affair , but the new discovery is meaning .
“ Why this is exciting is , although marsupial like kangaroo might migrate on a wandering basis , there are none today that follow prepare seasonal pattern , ” Pricesaid .
He is in particular interested in what happen when the diprotodons died out , as it might suggest what to look if other Continent suffer their migrant grazers . It is likely that diprotodon defunctness affected the landscape of Australia and killed off predator , but we do n’t sleep with for sure .
ecologist have found that , in areas where oxen have substitute zebra or antelope , it is best totry to replicatemigratory patterns , where grassland are wipe out intensively for short period of time . This has yet to be applied to Australian ecosystem , which were not conceive to be adapted to this particular grazing pattern .
