00:00In the past, Australia housed its own giants and its titanic animals would have eclipsed everything that lives today on this continent.
00:07Scientists have discovered many remains of these ancient creatures in the caves of Narra Court, in southern Australia, four hours from the city of Adelaide.
00:17It is a beautiful but dangerous region.
00:20Beware of the holes scattered in the ground.
00:22Known under the name of urn traps, many are no larger than a kitchen table.
00:28They are deep and plunge into the darkest caves.
00:33One of these caves, the Victoria Fossil Cave, is a treasure housing the bones of about 45,000 animals for centuries.
00:42Some of the oldest bones belong to creatures much more terrifying than any living animal today.
00:48These are the ancient Australian megafauna, gigantic beasts that roamed the continent during the Pleistocene.
00:55Among them were huge snakes, huge birds unable to fly, creatures similar to rhino-sized wombats, and many more.
01:07One of the largest representatives of the Australian megafauna discovered to date is the Diprotodon.
01:13This gigantic herbivorous creature was 3 meters long by 2 meters high and weighed more than 2,500 kilograms, as much as a small Asian elephant.
01:23Although this impressive beast was not a carnivore, it could have crushed other animals by its own weight.
01:30Scientists have found the remains of hundreds of these creatures all over Australia.
01:36This suggests that no other animal of this time or region surpassed such a colossus.
01:43Despite its imposing appearance, the Diprotodon was a parent of the modern wombat, sometimes known to hover over humans.
01:51The Diprotodon had toes turned inwards, perfectly adapted to dig burrows.
01:57However, given its size, it is unlikely that it dug them itself.
02:03This trait was probably inherited from its smaller ancestors.
02:08It could also have used its claws to look for roots, a theory supported by the fact that the animal's pocket was oriented backwards,
02:15thus preventing dust from accumulating while it was digging.
02:19Being very large, it did not have much to fear from predators.
02:23Until the arrival of the first humans on the continent, about 60,000 years ago,
02:28the adult Diprotodons had to be wary of only a few creatures, such as the fearsome Quinkana.
02:35With an impressive length of 6 meters, the Quinkana was a terrestrial crocodile that lived in Australia about 40,000 to 20 million years ago.
02:44It disappeared at the same time as most of the other great creatures of the last ice age,
02:49probably following the arrival of the first humans on the continent.
02:53Although the Quinkana was extremely fast and dangerous,
02:56it is possible that this creature was supplanted by the human hunters who then caught all the prey available.
03:03Unlike modern crocodiles, which are mainly aquatic, this powerful Saurian was an inhabitant of the land.
03:10Scientists discovered it by studying the legs of the Quinkana,
03:14capable of lifting its body far above the ground.
03:17This suggests that once spotted by a Quinkana, there was no escape.
03:22Modern crocodiles, on the other hand, drag themselves by crawling on their bellies.
03:26Such an adaptation allowed the Quinkana to chase its prey for long distances, until exhaustion.
03:33Another frightening feature of this ancient monster was its teeth.
03:37Unlike the conical teeth of aquatic crocodiles, excellent for grabbing and holding prey underwater,
03:43the teeth of the Quinkana were in the shape of blades, ideal for tearing soft-bodied animals such as us, mammals.
03:51Another Australian monster, the Tilacoleo, was not so big, but that did not make it less terrifying.
03:57It was one of the main predators and the largest carnivores in Australia.
04:01This creature represented a real oddity of nature, even compared to other prehistoric monsters.
04:09To begin with, its teeth did not look at all like those of an ordinary predator, but like those of a rodent.
04:16Its hypertrophied incisors took the place of canines and its premolars, in the shape of blades, were used to tear flesh and bones.
04:24At first, scientists thought that the Tilacoleo used its teeth to eat nuts and other fruits.
04:32But later, a study showed that its teeth were much more adapted to cut necks and section vertebral columns.
04:39What a program!
04:40The jaws of this creature were terribly powerful.
04:44A 100 kg Tilacoleo had a bite force comparable to that of a modern lion of 250 kg.
04:52This meant that the animal could easily kill a prey much larger than it.
04:56In addition, the tail of the Tilacoleo was endowed with powerful muscles that allowed the animal to use it as support when it attacked large prey.
05:06The Tilacoleo had retractable claws, an extremely rare feature among marsupials.
05:13This particularity allowed it to keep its extremely sharp hooks without fraying them, thus offering a better grip on its prey.
05:22Scientists are also convinced that, just like modern leopards, the Tilacoleo could climb trees and leap on other animals from heights.
05:32Its attacks were so fast and stealthy that its victims never knew what had struck them.
05:38This theory is reinforced by the structure of its hind legs.
05:42The first toe was reduced there, while the foot had a rough cushion similar to that of current opossums,
05:50which offered a better grip when climbing.
05:53When scientists discovered the first skull of Mayolania, they first thought it was a lizard, hence its signifying name, the Humble Errant.
06:03However, after finding more complete fossils, it turned out that the Mayolania was actually a giant turtle and not a lizard.
06:12It was one of the largest terrestrial turtles to have ever existed.
06:16The initial mistake of the researchers was that it had spiny ornaments on its skull, a feature that can also be found in modern horned lizards.
06:26Despite the discovery of the true nature of this creature, scientists are still struggling to classify it correctly.
06:34We do not know if this turtle folded its neck under its spine or on its side to defend itself.
06:41In addition to its skull defense mechanisms, the Mayolania also had a spiny tail,
06:47presumably used to repel predators attacking it from behind.
06:52Most of the Mayolania species disappeared about 2,000 to 3,000 years ago,
06:57probably due to human activity that led to their extinction in Australia and the neighboring islands.
07:03It took about two centuries for these turtles to die out in this region of the globe.
07:08The Mayolania was an Australian giant lizard that lived at the end of the Pleistocene.
07:13It resembled the Komodo dragon and the Australian Varant Bigaret, considered its closest living relatives.
07:19Fossils show that this ancient lizard was 4.5 to 8 meters long.
07:25And the most recent fossils of Mayolania date back to about 50,000 years ago.
07:29The first indigenous peoples probably lived next to the Mayolania, which contributed to the extinction of this giant lizard.
07:35Initially, scientists thought it was the only representative of the Mayolania genus.
07:41However, it now belongs to the Varanus genus,
07:45which indicates that this prehistoric creature is closely related to modern Australian Varants.
07:51The next giant on our list is sometimes nicknamed the Ostrich under Steroids, due to its imposing size.
07:58The Genyornis, the last of the Dromornitidae to disappear in Australia,
08:02lived next to the first humans.
08:04It is likely that they coexisted for about 15,000 years before the huge volatile disappeared.
08:10This hypothesis is reinforced by the discovery of fossils of Genyornis associated with human tools.
08:16In addition, some rupestrous paintings represent birds unable to fly,
08:21which strongly resemble the Genyornis by their size and appearance.
08:24Although the Genyornis was not the largest bird in Australia,
08:28it still measured the size of an adult man and weighed about 250 kg.
08:33Compared to a modern ostrich, which can be dangerous when it feels threatened,
08:39imagining facing its immense prehistoric ancestor would make you think more than once.
08:45Scientists are still debating the food regime of the Genyornis.
08:49Some think it was herbivorous, but it is also possible that it was partially carnivorous.
08:55Its small, ragged wings and its powerful soles in the form of soles could suggest a vegetarian diet,
09:01while its huge beak and its exceptionally developed lower jaw continue to raise questions.
09:07Indeed, these characteristics are at least atypical in birds.
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