Giant kangaroos survived until 6,500 years ago on the New Guinea coast

Artist's impression of _Protemnodon tumbuna_ from Nombe Rockshelter. Peter Schouten

Roughly 50,000 years ago, a kangaroo unlike any alive today lived in the mountain rainforests of New Guinea.

First discovered by Western science in 1983, Protemnodon tumbuna was roughly the size of a modern red kangaroo but much more stocky and muscular. Most peculiarly, it hopped little, if at all. It moved mostly on all fours, with long, strong forelimbs providing support for agile bounding through complex and steep terrain.