Non-archaeology post Marsupial lion among finds in treasure trove of fossils

The animal was 9ft long, and probably the most fearsome predator on the continent. But the marsupial lion may have been wiped out in Australia by the arrival of humans 50,000 years ago, according to a first analysis of a treasure trove of fossils unearthed in southern Australia. The discovery has been described by scientists as the "find of the century".

"They constitute a veritable Rosetta stone for ice age Australia," said Gavin Prideaux, a palaeontologist at the Western Australia Museum, who led expeditions to recover and study the fossils. "We discovered 69 species of mammals, birds and reptiles, including a remarkable eight new species of kangaroo, the most common of which sported unusually large brow ridges."