Marsupial Lion (Thylacoleo carnifex) illustration for Paleostock | PBS Eons
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"Thylacoleo", illustration for Paleostock, 2021
A fiery sunset lits the sky in the Australia of Middle-Pleistocene.
We're walking in a filed near a group of red round rocks.
The grass is tall and arid and it cracks under our feet as we proceed.
Suddenly a large animal comes out the bushes and hops on top of a round rock in front of us.
It seems a mix of a tiger and a bear, but has some odd rodent like-teeth and some kinda human-like hands.
We're facing the largest mammal predator in the continent: the Marsupial lion.
Now the creature is staring at us while snarling in a threat posture. Maybe it is defending it's prey or perhaps it's litter.
It is common to hear that Australia is a "dangerous place" to live in, according to the common belief that the land has a huge concentration of extremely dangerous animals. Back in the days, during the Pleistocene, this huge island was no less.
Among the predators you could bump into, around 200.000 years ago while taking a walk in the Outback, there was Thylacoleo carinfex, also called the "Marsupial lion".
Thylacoleo carinfex was a huge marsupial that was about the same size of a modern jaguar or a small lioness. It was one of the largest land predators in Oceania.
In spite the name it was neither a felid nor a placental mammal.
It was a marsupial but somehow it shown some convergent cat-like traits.
Kinda cute, kinda spooky creature indeed!
Thylacoleo resembles in its appearance one of the criptids of Australian folklore: the drop bear, a sort of "carnivorous version" of koala.
We're walking in a filed near a group of red round rocks.
The grass is tall and arid and it cracks under our feet as we proceed.
Suddenly a large animal comes out the bushes and hops on top of a round rock in front of us.
It seems a mix of a tiger and a bear, but has some odd rodent like-teeth and some kinda human-like hands.
We're facing the largest mammal predator in the continent: the Marsupial lion.
Now the creature is staring at us while snarling in a threat posture. Maybe it is defending it's prey or perhaps it's litter.
It is common to hear that Australia is a "dangerous place" to live in, according to the common belief that the land has a huge concentration of extremely dangerous animals. Back in the days, during the Pleistocene, this huge island was no less.
Among the predators you could bump into, around 200.000 years ago while taking a walk in the Outback, there was Thylacoleo carinfex, also called the "Marsupial lion".
Thylacoleo carinfex was a huge marsupial that was about the same size of a modern jaguar or a small lioness. It was one of the largest land predators in Oceania.
In spite the name it was neither a felid nor a placental mammal.
It was a marsupial but somehow it shown some convergent cat-like traits.
Kinda cute, kinda spooky creature indeed!
Thylacoleo resembles in its appearance one of the criptids of Australian folklore: the drop bear, a sort of "carnivorous version" of koala.
Close up of a hissing Marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex)
Featured on PBS Eons
This illustration was featured in the PBS Eons episode dedicated to the Marsupial Lion.
PBS Eons is a PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) production. It is one of the biggest web educational projects focused on spreading the knowledge of Natural History, Evolution and Paloentology. Its Youtube channel counts more than 2,6 million subscribers.
Simone Zoccante
Natural History Illustrator
simonezoccante@gmail.com
