Sydney — A
giant extinct species of the platypus with powerful teeth has been discovered
in Australia, with a scientist on Tuesday describing the duck-billed water
animal as a "Godzilla" like monster.
The new
species, named Obdurodon tharalkooschild, was identified by a single but highly
distinctive tooth found in Riversleigh in the northeastern Australian state of
Queensland -- a World Heritage site rich in fossil deposits.
"It
pretty well blew our minds," University of New South Wales professor Mike
Archer told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. of the animal, which is estimated
to be about twice the size of the modern platypus.
"And
then bang out of the blue drops this monster. Platypus Godzilla."
 |
Illustration:
scientists discover a tooth of
what they believe was a giant duck-billed
platypus, which evolved alongside
today's species, pictured (AFP/File,
Torsten
Blackwood)
|
"We
didn't expect this. It's a huge platypus at the wrong time. But there it
was," said Archer of the one-metre (three foot) species.
The modern
platypus, a timid and nocturnal animal which lives in deep waterside burrows
and is found only in eastern Australia, lacks any teeth as an adult and the
scientists do not believe the new extinct species was an immediate ancestor.
"Discovery
of this new species was a shock to us because prior to this, the fossil record
suggested that the evolutionary tree of platypuses was a relatively linear
one," Archer explained in a statement.
"Now
we realize that there were unanticipated side branches on this tree, some of
which became gigantic."
Archer said
he was confident that the single tooth, which was discovered by Rebecca Pian, a
PhD candidate at Columbia University in the United States, was sufficient
evidence of a new species.
"We
know it's a platypus, we also know it's very different from any other toothed
platypus we've seen before," he said.
Pian, the
lead author of the research published in the US-based Journal of Vertebrate
Palaeontology, said any new species, even though incomplete, was an important
aid in understanding more about the fascinating mammals.
The extinct
species is believed to have been a mostly aquatic animal like its modern
descendant and would have lived in and around freshwater pools in the forests
that covered the Riversleigh area millions of years ago.
It probably
fed on crayfish and other freshwater crustaceans, as well as small vertebrates
such as frogs and turtles, said Suzanne Hand of UNSW's School of Biological
Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Archer said
scientists already had concerns about the long-term viability of the platypus and
the discovery only added to these.
"It
only says that there were more kinds of platypus that are now gone," he
said.
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