Giant kangaroo twice the size of a human roamed Australia 5 million years ago, ... trends now

Australia might be famous for its unusual and dangerous wildlife, but five million years ago scientists say things would have been even stranger. 

Giant kangaroos - some more than twice the size of a human - roamed the country for millions of years, a new study has found.

Researchers from Flinders University have uncovered three new species of giant fossil kangaroo which spread from the deserts of Australia to the jungles of New Guinea. 

The largest species, Protenmodon viator, weighed up to 170kg (375 lbs) and would have travelled central Australia on its long limbs. 

Dr Isaac Kerr, lead author of the study, says: 'Living kangaroos are already such remarkable animals, so it's amazing to think what these peculiar giant kangaroos could have been getting up to.'

These prehistoric roos would have looked much like a modern grey kangaroo, although more squat and muscular. 

The researchers believe they emerged around five million years ago and went extinct sometime around 40,000 years ago. 

The smallest of these ancient kangaroos would have been around 50kg (110 lbs), about the same size as a modern-day Eastern Grey.

The largest species would be about twice as large as an adult male red kangaroo, which can reach up to 1.8m (5ft 10') tall.

Unusually, although the three new species are all members of the same family, they would have all lived very different lives. 

The fossil record reveals that these closely related species were adapted specially to their unique environments and would have even hopped differently.

Dr Kerr said: 'The different species of Protemnodon are now known to have inhabited a broad range of habitats, from arid central Australia into the high-rainfall, forested

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