Now this Skippy galloped, not hopped...
December 7th 2007 23:54
The icon of Kiwiana
If there had have been a Melbourne Cup 25 million years ago,a kangaroo may have lined up to gallop with them. A Skippy that galloped with the herd!
He would have been called a nambaroo (which meant "big muscly forearms")and showed he galloped or bounded like a possum.
It has been described as a discovery that skips conventional wisdom about one of Australia's greatest icons.
Scientists believe the 25 million year old remains dug up in Queensland in the 1990's, are from a newly discovered species called nambaroo gillespieae.
The nambaroo was part of an extinct kangaroo group known as the Balbariae, which scientists claim was replaced by the modern day kangaroo species.
The nambaroo was about the size of a small dog, had canine fangs, and was a quadruped, or four legged.
This was the great,great,great,great, grandfather of the modern kangaroo.
The remains were found in the renowned fossil fields of the Riversleigh world heritage area in North Queensland.
It was claimed the find would unlock the genesis of todays kangaroo.
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