KANGAROOS AND DINOSAURS

[darren.naish@port.ac.uk]

Just took me the better part of the day to wade through all those 
emails. Nick wrote..

> Matt is exactly right here.  The closest thing we have today to the 
> form of the ancestral kangaroos are the quadrupedal, ground-dwelling 
> rat kangaroos.  Tree kangaroos are derived from hopping, 
> ground-based ancestors.

Most marsupial workers would agree with this view: the 
terrestrial potoroids are the most primitive macropods and tree 
kangaroos (dendrolagins) are secondarily arboreal derived 
macropodids [in which case the New Guinean bondegazou has reverted 
*back* to terrestriality - reminds me of what Garth Underwood told me 
about nocturnal habits in phelsumid geckos]. HOWEVER, there is some 
controversy and at least a few workers (Hopkinson springs to mind... 
excuse the pun, though it is deliberate) have argued that 
dendrolagins are actually the MOST BASAL macropods... in which case, 
macropods really have come down from the trees. Referred to on this 
list some time back by Dave Peters, this idea is appealing to those 
who like the idea that scansoriality may be primitive for theropods, 
dinosaurs or archosaurs.

BTW, if you are interested in tree kangaroos, you must check out 
Flannery's recent volume on the group. And am I right in thinking 
that the bondegazou still hasn't been officially named? A recent 
conversation with Derek Yalden has made me think otherwise.

DARREN NAISH 
PALAEOBIOLOGY RESEARCH GROUP
School of Earth, Environmental & Physical Sciences
UNIVERSITY OF PORTSMOUTH
Burnaby Building
Burnaby Road                           email: darren.naish@port.ac.uk
Portsmouth UK                          tel: 01703 446718
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http://www.naish-zoology.com]