What did the European ancestors of the Tasmanian devil look like?

Marsupials live today almost exclusively in Australia. Although marsupial possums still remained in South America, it was Australia that became the oasis for these mysterious creatures, which in ancient times competed with placental mammals (which include humans). Who knows, then turn the evolutionary roulette in the other direction, today we could walk with bags on our stomachs and save on packages in supermarkets. But seriously, the likelihood that marsupials would have won in the evolutionary struggle was indeed. This is proved by the recent discovery of archaeologists - a relative of the "Tasmanian devil", whose fossil remains were discovered in Turkey.

Weight champion

The ancient marsupial animal found northwest of Ankara is the largest known at the moment that has ever lived in Europe. The find was dubbed Anatoliadelphys maasae. The fossil, about 43 million years old, has been perfectly preserved and includes parts of the skull and most of the skeleton. This suggests that during life the animal weighed 3-4 kilograms, the size of a domestic cat and could climb trees. Since this is a skeleton, the bags, of course, did not survive, but paleontologists are still confident that they are dealing with marsupial.

In the photo: "Tasmanian devil"

The fact is that the animal had powerful teeth and jaws for meat and crushing bones, like modern "Tasmanian devils." This feature is similar to marsupials in Australia and South America, which suggests that representatives of this mammalian order were more common in the northern hemisphere than previously thought.

Devilish appetite

The large size of the find is quite unusual for the ancient marsupials found in the northern latitudes: usually such animals were the size of no more than a mouse and ate insects, as opossums do today.

In the photo: Opossums

Anatoliadelphys maasae was ten times larger and, apparently, had a good appetite. Scientists believe that the European "devil", thanks to its powerful jaws, ate almost everything that it could catch: bugs, snails, frogs, lizards, small mammals and their bones.

Moreover, it is known that the ancestors of marsupials really arose in the northern hemisphere, were able to survive and lived there 12 million years ago. According to one version, the region of Turkey where the "European devil" was found was an island 43 million years ago, which probably saved Anatoliadelphys from the competition in the form of placental mammals: ancient cats, dogs and weasels.

Today in Australia, many marsupials are on the verge of extinction due to the fact that cats, Dingo dogs and foxes were brought to the mainland. Apparently, placental mammals are really better suited to competition.