National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Ancient Giant Wombat Sex Differences Were Huge


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Some ancient giant wombats (above, an artist's rendering of an animal with its young) weighed as much as a pickup truck and stood as tall as a person. Others were much smaller, about the weight of a compact car.

A new study suggests that—despite their vastly different sizes—these marsupials all belonged to the same species, and that gender accounted for the size gaps.

Illustration by DEA PICTURE LIBRARY