Ancient Kangaroos: A Hop Through Time

Many years ago, during a time called the Pleistocene, several species of large animals went extinct. In Australia, this included about two dozen types of kangaroos. Scientists have been trying to understand why this happened.

Researchers, led by Sam Arman, studied the teeth of over 900 kangaroos, both ancient and modern. They used a special technique to look at tiny marks on the teeth. This helped them figure out what the kangaroos ate.

The study found that most extinct kangaroos had mixed diets, eating both grass and shrubs. This suggests that they didn't die out because of changes in their food supply. Instead, the researchers think that the arrival of humans in Australia might have played a bigger role in their extinction than climate change.