The bite of the short-faced kangaroos

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A new study looking into the skull biomechanics of the extinct giant short-faced kangaroos of Australia has found that the animals likely were equipped for high-performance crushing of foods, which suggests feeding behavior more similar to that of a giant panda than that of a typical kangaroo. This supports the hypothesis that these animals were capable of persisting on tougher, poorer quality vegetation during droughts or glacial periods. To perform this study, the researchers used computed tomography scans to create 3D models of the skull of the kangaroo species Simosthenurus occidentalis, which were then run through a series of bite simulations in order to examine their biomechanics. The researchers measured the resulting forces at the jaw joints and biting teeth and stress across the skull during biting. These findings were then compared to those obtained from models of a koala, which has the most similar skull shape to the extinct kangaroo. This comparison showed that the animal's bony, heavily reinforced skull helped in producing and withstanding strong forces during biting, which would help the animal crush thick, resistant vegetation. The study suggests that the feeding strategies of the short-faced kangaroos and the giant panda are an example of convergent evolution, as, despite not being closely related, they both evolved similar methods of obtaining food. Here is a link to the paper describing this study.

Paper (open access!): https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0221287