page_title: Australian megafauna
section_title: Marsupials
hierarchical_section_title: Australian megafauna / Extinct Australian megafauna / Marsupials
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of a cast of a composite Diprotodon skeleton excavated from Lake Callabonna, and on display at the Queensland Museum
context_page_description: The term Australian megafauna refers to a number of large animal species in Australia, often defined as species with body mass estimates of greater than 45 kg or equal to or greater than 130% of the body mass of their closest living relatives, that lived during the Pleistocene Epoch. Most of these species became extinct during the latter half of the Pleistocene, and the roles of human and climatic factors in their extinction are contested.
  There are similarities between prehistoric Australian megafauna and some mythical creatures from the Aboriginal Dreamtime.
context_section_description: Marsupials are arranged by size, with the largest at the top.
caption: Diprotodon optatum was a hippopotamus-sized marsupial and was most closely related to wombats
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