Protemnodon viator was a large macropod that lived in what is now western and southern Australia during the late Pleistocene, around 50,000 years ago.
Although it was built more like a giant wallaby, ancient mitochondrial DNA has shown that its closest living relatives are actually modern grey kangaroos.
Estimated to have weighed about 170kg (~375lbs) – twice as much as the largest modern red kangaroos – it would have stood up to 2.4m tall (~8') on its hind legs. But unlike its living relatives Protemnodon's limb proportions indicate it wasn't a very efficient bipedal hopper, instead probably mostly moving with a bounding or galloping quadrupedal gait.
Its forelimb anatomy also suggests it was a good digger, and strongly curved claws on its hind feet may have helped provide grip on uneven ground.
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