title: Behaviour of the Pleistocene marsupial lion deduced from claw marks in a southwestern Australian cave.
abstract: The marsupial lion, Thylacoleo carnifex, was the largest-ever marsupial carnivore, and is one of the most iconic extinct Australian vertebrates. With a highly-specialised dentition, powerful forelimbs and a robust build, its overall morphology is not approached by any other mammal. However, despite >150 years of attention, fundamental aspects of its biology remain unresolved. Here we analyse an assemblage of claw marks preserved on surfaces in a cave and deduce that they were generated by marsupial lions. The distribution and skewed size range of claw marks within the cave elucidate two key aspects of marsupial lion biology: they were excellent climbers and reared young in caves. Scrutiny of >10,000 co-located Pleistocene bones reveals few if any marsupial lion tooth marks, which dovetails with the morphology-based interpretation of the species as a flesh specialist.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia 5042, Australia.
authors.forename: Samuel D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Arman
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia 5042, Australia.
authors.forename: Gavin J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Prideaux
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D059552:Caves; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D005580:Fossils; D006724:Hoof and Claw / Q000502:physiology; D008045:Lions / Q000502:physiology*; D008394:Marsupialia / Q000502:physiology*; D010163:Paleontology