By Hazel L. Richards, PhD candidate, Monash University
Imagine going through life with your arms permanently bent and locked at the elbows. Awkward, right?
Until recently we thought the mega-marsupial
Palorchestes azael lived exactly like this. This rare, distant relative of the wombat became extinct (along with much of Australia’s megafauna) about 40,000 years ago.
Palorchestes could in fact move its elbows — but only a very tiny amount compared to other mammals.
Thus, we think this enigmatic creature would have had a highly unusual gait, which may provide a clue to why it went extinct.
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A strange setup