Sabre-tooth badger!

[Miss Chicken]

Well, not actually a badger, but a marsupial.

Palaeontologists think they have unearthed a rare fossil of a sabre-toothed carnivore which may have roamed Australia millions of years ago.
University of New South Wales scientists have been digging in the Riversleigh area in north-west Queensland for more than 30 years.
Senior palaeontologist Henk Godthelp says they have never seen a carnivore fossil like this before, but further investigation is needed.
"One of the most exciting animals [is] this really bizarre looking, sabre-toothed, marsupial carnivore," he said.
"It looks like it had a head a bit like a badger, but with fangs nearly as half as long as its skull."

Rest of story here


So folks, the question I want to ask is - what is your 'favourite' extinct animal (doesn't have to be prehistoric).

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Well, not actually a badger, but a marsupial.

Damn. I was all geared up for round two of the badger wars.

 

[KimMH]

When I saw your title I immediately thought - Australia! That would be cool!

i think we are all poorer for the loss of Mastadons and Wooly Mammoths!

 

[melancholymecha]

there was once a marsupilal "lion" too... thylacoleo.

 

[Finn]

I have many. But there are times when I wish there were still ground sloths. Imagine all those westerns with desert ground sloths in the background scaring away the horses, a line in Gettysburg (the movie, of course) where a Lieutatent remarked that they will be able to cook sloth steaks that night after someone shot one.

 

[gturner]

Well, not actually a badger, but a marsupial.

Palaeontologists think they have unearthed a rare fossil of a sabre-toothed carnivore which may have roamed Australia millions of years ago.

A few questions:

Why do they think they have unearthed a rare fossil? Are they worried they might have imagined the whole 'digging-it-up' part, or do they think this never-before-seen fossil might actually be as common as dirt at the airport's souvenir shop?

Second, why do they only think it may have roamed Australia? Is there a chance it was perhaps a home-body that never ventured out of its den?

 

[Miss Chicken]

I think New Zealand would be an even cooler place if the Haast's Eagle (the largest known eagle) and its prey, the moas had not been wipe out by the Maoris.

I would also like it if the Elephant Bird and the Dodo were around today.

 

[gturner]

I think New Zealand would be an even cooler place if the Haast's Eagle (the largest known eagle) and its prey, the moas had not been wipe out by the Maoris.

I would also like it if the Elephant Bird and the Dodo were around today.

Yeah, they're really cool until they poop on your car.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Not a sabre-tooth, but he is smiling for the camera.

 

[KimMH]

Not a sabre-tooth, but he is smiling for the camera.

actually a little scary to scale them larger and with bigger teeth!

I may poach that for my next AV!

 

[Goliath]

Well, not actually a badger, but a marsupial.

Damn. I was all geared up for round two of the badger wars.

SABER SABER SABER

As for my favourite extinct animal, I would say--the Megalodon.

A shark that was bigger than a T.rex, with jaws so wide it could swallow a rhinocerous whole.

Plus, its name makes it sound like something out of a Japanese monster movie.