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What if marsupials never arrived to Australia?
Topic Started: May 7 2010, 02:28 PM (1,648 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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Holben
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Rumbo a la Victoria

Perhaps some marine-iguana analogues.
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.

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MitchBeard
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JohnFaa
May 9 2010, 05:13 AM
Lagomorphs would either go the same way as rodents but earlier, or maybe do so from India while it was still seperated from Asia
...wait, what? Don't understand what you mean Faa.

Lagomorphs wouldn't be anywhere near Australia if it weren't for H. sapiens
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Carlos
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You don't seem to have read previous posts of mine did you? That lagos began as more mouse looking?
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http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/

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Practically Uninformed
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For some reason, I like the idea of monotremal moles. The environ seems to suit their simple design.

In addition, creatures from Indonesia could leak into Australia, such as the Coconut Crab and some species of monkeys, and rise to diversify.
You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper!
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MitchBeard
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Heard of the Wallace Line pu?
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Canis Lupis
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

I do seriously like that lagomorph idea John. Is there any way the lagos could become carnivorous, or would some other group have to take over that niche?




Pando: Squamates could easily diversify without the prescence of large mammals and/or birds. In a pretty much vacant Oz, squamates (or crocs) could easily diversify in a way similar to the Squamazoic (a project undertaken by Tim Morris and a new wave by Metalraptor and Venatosaurus).




Bexi: Pando's right. A kangaroo-like design in mammals would be restricted to marsupials. Since marsupial young is born so premature, the hips don't have to expand and can remain solid, which allows for the "theropod"-like stance. Which gets me thinking: perhaps marsupials are the only group of mammals (besides pangolins of course) who could produce a theropodal gait.
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Carlos
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Quote:
 
I do seriously like that lagomorph idea John. Is there any way the lagos could become carnivorous, or would some other group have to take over that niche?


Modern lagomorphs do ingest meat, specially pikas and hares. However, while a fully carnivorous lagomorph is possible, I'd prefer sphenodontians, monitors and crocodillians as Australia's dominant carnivores
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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Practically Uninformed
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I haven't heard of the Wallace Line, but now that I'm reading of it, I still think that creatures could've overcome this due to the absence of fauna in Australia.
You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper!
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colddigger
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What about the kangaroo rat? Or the springhare?
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