07/23/2025
Somewhere in Pleistocene Australia; caught in the open by a group of giant eagle-vultures, a family of Procoptodon has no choice but to stand its ground and fight.
This is inspired by incredible footage of modern kangaroos being hunted by a group of wedge-tailed eagles (Aquila audax), today Australia's largest raptor, which fills both the niche of active apex predator and scavenger. Back in the Pleistocene, however, the niche of scavenger was occupied by true vultures, and the top aerial predator was apparently Dynatoaetus, a giant raptor not far behind the legendary Haast's eagle in size. According to some studies, Dynatoaetus may have been most closely related to the aegypine vultures- but it was an active predator, with strong, robust claws and a wingspan of at least 3 meters. This giant raptor would've been a threat to even the largest marsupials of its time, especially young or weakened individuals. This painting is also inspired by a conversation I had with .rovinsky regarding sthenurine kangaroos, which are currently believed to be bipedal runners. In truth, their anatomy is so bizarre we are starting to doubt they could actually run. Perhaps- in fitting with their apparent folivorous diet- they were slow moving walkers, powerful but not very agile. The same long arms, sharp curved claws and mobile shoulder joints that allowed them to reach high over their heads to pull foliage down to eat may have helped them repel aerial attacks as well. In some ways, they may have been similar to the American giant ground sloths whose defense consisted on standing their ground and striking with their deadly claws at whatever came close, except where sloths had specialized ankles and hips that allowed them to swivel in place to strike in several directions, these giant roos may have relied on their tail for support and hop to change angle- at close quarters they may have been very dangerous, as apparently stressed in Australian aboriginal stories about ancient giant kangaroos met by their ancestors.
