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What if marsupials never arrived to Australia?
Topic Started: May 7 2010, 02:28 PM (1,650 Views)
Pando
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In the early Paleocene marsupials rafted from Antarctica to Australia. But what if they never did, and instead froze in the Oligocene never leaving Antarctica?

I'd expect more diverse monotremes, more terrestrial birds, and marsupials restricted to the opossums and monito del monte in the Americas.
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Pando
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But squamates aren't that diverse. Mammals are.

I would expect the Gondwana's to look a lot like this (Spec has the only Gonwanathere pics I can find):
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MitchBeard
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The only reason the squamates aren't diverse is for the same reason that mammals weren't that diverse during the mesozoic.
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Pando
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Mammals not diverse during the Mesozoic? I think my heart just stopped for a second.

Maybe there could be neo-sauropods from lizards and predatory echidnas?
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The Dodo
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It turns out monotremes have an undeveloped digestive system, so a predatory one might not be plausible.
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Ook
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as in real history,there can be land crocodiles,giant turtles and giant monitors
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Carlos
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Quote:
 
How would it be boring !?


Because rodents will take over the world eventually, and having a premature radiation of rodents disgusts me because the bastards are already the linage with the most species among mammals.

I however would like that, instead of rodents, lagomorphs would diversifying; early lagomorphs were mouse like, before the evolution of pikas and rabbits/hares, so basal lagomorphs could diversify in Australia in all the shapes mentioned for rodents.
Edited by Carlos, May 8 2010, 05:15 AM.
Lemuria:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/

Terra Alternativa:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/

My Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/Carliro

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Ook
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today are 25% of australian mammals rodents.Rodents are not boring,they are interesting.How about kangaroo like rodents,mara like long legged rodents,smaller scavenging rodent coexisted with several species of emu,dronormis and some other flightless birds,top predators as giant monitor lizadrs and land crocodiles,armored giant tortoises and anteater like long beaked echidnas?
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The Dodo
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Rodents didn't arrive in Australia until some 10 million years ago. There would be another group of mammals or other animals to take the marsupials place by then.
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Pando
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The Dodo: We're talking a LONG time ago, when they probably had a good digestive system. And with the absence of marsupials a carnivorous one has a big chance.

Bexi: A kangaroo eutherian CANNOT exist. Unless their young is EXTREMELY tiny. Hip structure won't allow it.

JohnFaa: I like your idea.
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Ook
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i think that before arrive of rodents will be australia ruled by flightless birds,reptiles and maybe slightly more diverget monotremes and maybe there survive mulituberculates,but after arrive rodents,they outcompete multituberculates(maybe some specialized multies survive)
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Pando
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Multies could expand and fill the role of large herbivores, and only the small ones go extinct.

By the way, rodents were on Australia for 10 million years and small rodent niche-filling marsupials such as possums, quokkas, hare wallabies, and wombats didn't go extinct. So rodents aren't that good.
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Holben
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Bexi- please explain the dragons!
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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The Dodo
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JohnFaa
May 8 2010, 05:13 AM
Quote:
 
How would it be boring !?


Because rodents will take over the world eventually, and having a premature radiation of rodents disgusts me because the bastards are already the linage with the most species among mammals.

I however would like that, instead of rodents, lagomorphs would diversifying; early lagomorphs were mouse like, before the evolution of pikas and rabbits/hares, so basal lagomorphs could diversify in Australia in all the shapes mentioned for rodents.
Wait, how would lagomorphs get to Australia?
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Ook
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that dragons was joke,rodents isnt boring ;)
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Carlos
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Lagomorphs would either go the same way as rodents but earlier, or maybe do so from India while it was still seperated from Asia
Lemuria:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/

Terra Alternativa:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/

My Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/Carliro

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