Nimbacinus dicksoni, an extinct marsupial, was a tiny but fierce hunter that killed prey larger than its size, according to a new study.
Sometimes, the little things have the biggest impact.
After analyzing a 16 to 11.5-million-year-old fossil skull of a prehistoric marsupial, Nimbacinus dicksoni, researchers from the University of New England found that the animal was a fierce killer and hunted prey larger than its own size.
"The discovery of an entire skeleton of Nimbacinus was a truly amazing finding, particularly as it is was in such good condition," said study author Stephen Wroe, a zoologist and paleontologist at the University of New England in Australia, according to Discovery News.
Researchers used 3D computer software to reconstruct its skull and performed biomechanical analysis to see whether it was a champion chomper.
"It has the teeth of a true marsupial carnivore, with well-developed vertical slicing blades for cutting through meat and sinew," Wroe explained. "It likely preyed upon small to medium-sized birds, frogs, lizards and snakes, as well as a wide range of marsupials."
The creature was a fox-sized cousin of the famous "Tasmanian Tiger" also called Thylacinidae. It weighed around 11 pounds and looked like a cross between a cat and an opossum. The Tasmanian tiger is also an extinct animal now. The last wild thylacinidae was shot in 1930 while the last captive member of the species died in a zoo in 1936.
While the Nimbacinus was a fierce animal, it was no match for the Tasmanian devil. The marsupial carnivore may have been able to process smaller bones but didn't have the strength to crush the huge preys that the Tasmanian devil usually hunted.
Nimbacinus dicksoni lived in northern Australia during the Miocene Epoch, a time when a wondrous array of mammals and other animals roamed the earth. It had a shorter, wider snout than the Tasmanian tiger and its distinctive cheek teeth, used for cutting and shearing meat, were not as specialized, according to zoologist Marie Attard of the University of New England, another of the researchers, Reuters reported.
"The Nimbacinus skeleton was one of the first and most amazing things we encountered in the AL90 deposit. Apart from the modern species, it is the only other extinct thylacinid skeleton known and has provided many insights into the evolutionary origins and behaviours of Australia's carnivorous marsupials," Arid said in a press statement.
"We found, from the posture of the skeleton, that it had given up trying to get out of the cave into which it had fallen so long ago. It had folded its arms, and put its head down for a quiet little 15 million-year-long nap. Hence, we nick-named it the 'Philosophical Thylacine'," Professor Mike Archer, of the UNSW School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences added.
The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE and funded by the Australian Research Council.
