#578 Our Pal, Kanga
Fun Fact #578
Our Pal, Kanga
What do you get when you cross a Giraffe, bear, Ground sloth, and a Kangaroo together? The answer is Palorchestes or “The Giant Leaper”.
Despite looking like a mismatched lego set, Palorchetes (Henceforth preferred to as Pal) actually existed and was a distant relative of short faced kangaroos. Pal was a solitary browser using its large claws to climb and eat fruits, plant shoots, and leaves, likely standing on its back legs to eat. It would then us it's prehensile lips and tongue (like a giraffe) to help it get better grab and consume its food.
Yet, while it may seem like just a big cuddly animal, it was anything but; since it was the size of a modern horse weighing 2,200 pounds on average, and wielding long and sharp claws in a style similar to that of modern Koalas. It was built like a ground sloth in terms of bone structure, meaning it could take a hit and give one of the strongest blows ever thrown by an animal in The Australian bush. Then there was its nose which was highly sensitive making up for Pal’s poor eyesight and allowing it to sniff out food unseen in the trees, or locate intruders into its territory. Yet despite this, it did have one weakness: It’s elbows.
According to Aboriginal Dreamtime Myths you could only outrun a Pal by running in a zigzag –a notion backed up by modern science. Their legs sprawling out to their sides were mighty for delivering blows, but made it harder to turn, only made worse with their elbows being unusually restrictive in motion. Heck, one story even has a guy running in circles to avoid being hit while he struck at the beast until it died. We even have some ancient rock art of Pal made by early humans who migrated to the continent.
Life restoration of an adult and juvenile Palorchestes azael by Nellie Pease
As always, thank you for reading. Next week we’ll be starting the halloween season of Fun Facts early, so please let me know if there are any myths or legends you’d like me to look up. Thank you and please have a wonderful day.
