Science / Medicine : Skeleton of Huge Marsupial Found

The skeleton of a giant wombat-like creature that probably fell prey to a crocodile 200,000 years ago has been found in the Australian desert. Australian paleontologists have found the first complete fossilized skeleton of the diprotodon, the largest known marsupial, in the remote northwest, a spokesman for the Western Australian Museum said last week.

A grazing animal, it weighed 1.5 tons, stood 6.5 feet at the shoulder and probably died 200,000 years ago, said paleontologist Ken McNamara. The rhinoceros-sized skeleton was found in a dry riverbed in the Pilbara region.