The original script of 'Koolasuchus: Last of the Giant Amphibians' is now available to download on Patreon! Includes Koolasuchus paleoart + a Reference List for your further reading 🙂 You can gain access by donating as little as $7 a month on Patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/original-script-61575094
it enormous it can ambush at his prey out the water i remember prehistoric planet he ate small a prey it die during winter mmh i could draw that with my characters been ambushed by koolasuchus.
Great work here Prehistoric Australia! I don't know how to feel about this. It's rather sad to think Koolasuchus is extinct; even though it went extinct long before humans evolved. Such an amazing creature! Its body plan reminds me a lot of the Chinese and Japanese Giant Salamander species from Asia, but on a much larger scale.
Thank you Harnawaz Boparai! I agree it's sad that Koolasuchus is long extinct. We should certainly aim to conserve the vulnerable Chinese and Japanese Giant Salamander species, which are the closest analogue we have in terms of size and lifestyle to Koolasuchus today.
I personally believe that koolasuchus had the same niche as crocodilians and hunted the same prey. But it did probably behave more like a Japanese giant salamander
Please do an exclusive series on Australian megafauna, they are extremely interesting and i think more and more members of the general public today are fascinated by them, you can tell from the last exclusive and thorough documentary about them (Death of the Megabeasts) on youtube managed to attrack almost 3 million views. Also not much is known about them in public because of the extremely lack of info in popular media (especially on youtube). Like i stated above the last thorough documentary about them was the "Death of The Megabeasts" but it was way back in 2008. PBS eons don't even cover them. I think with your predefined identity as the source of knowledge for Austalia's prehistory, this could potentially be a great growth opportunity for your channel in the platform's paleontology space by filling this niche. Just like all successful strategy of evolution right? Haha. Anyway just a suggestion, i will be very happy if you would make those. I'll definitely subcribe and follow your content religiously. I LOVE Australian megafauna and i would like to know more about it in any way possible. It's sad to see them highly underrepresented on youtube. Keep it up!
Hey Empathy Tobacco! Thank you for subscribing and following our content religiously :) Haha I love Australian megafauna too. You're in luck - next year Season 2 is all about the Quaternary Period in Australia. So we'll be covering Australian megafauna in that season of videos. Let me know if there's any particular Quaternary megafauna you'd like to see episodes about? :) Thanks for your support!
Thanks TheRaptorOre17! As you can imagine, a great deal of time goes into research for these episodes, so it's always uplifting to see such positive feedback :)
Thanks for the positive feedback Abominatrix650. Glad you enjoyed the video! Feel free to let us know in the comments what you think of our other videos :)
I think it is reasonble to suggest that koolasuchus was oppotunistic. It may have sat on the bottom of the stream and ambushed prey, but a swimming or drinking dinosaur that is big enough to easily nab? I think it would have went for it.
Always had a soft spot for Koolasuchus, myself, if only because it was such an odd specimen compared to other Mesozoic fauna. I wonder why the temnospondyls not only lived on in southern Gondwana (if cold climate is a factor I'd assume they could be in Antarctica as well, shame any fossils would be buried under mountains of ice lol) but also in Asia. I recall China having a more temperate climate in some parts of the Jurassic and Cretaceous (eg the Jehol biota), maybe that was a factor? But of course it was still warm enough for crocodyliformes to coexist who knows what's up. As for some favourite extinct Australian critters, I've always gravitated to Mekosuchines (esp Quinkana and Trilophosuchus) and Propleopines (particularly Ekaltadeta), the former because it really proved how diverse crocodiles could be even until mere millennia ago, and the latter because I love the image of the soft fuzzy kangaroo being turned into some fanged flesh eating weirdo that probably caught whatever was small enough to eat.
I have soft spot for Koolasuchus too :) To me, Koolasuchus is such a distinct and evocative example of how even highly successful groups of animals (such as the temnospondyls) can gradually go extinct. Makes you wonder what other highly successful animal groups today (that we couldn't imagine going extinct) could completely go extinct, given the right circumstances. I don't think anyone has any idea why the brachyopoids hung on in Asia and Australia throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous. If you discover any papers on this subject, let me know :) Mekosuchines and Ekaltadeta are indeed classic prehistoric Australian animals! Ekaltadeta ima is my personal favourite prehistoric Australian animal. I'm curious if you have met any Australian animals? Extant or extinct? :) As always, thanks for your support TyrannoNoddy! Always a pleasure to chat with you in the comment section.
@@PrehistoricAustralia No worries. And well, I live in Melbourne so you could say I'm pretty familiar with quite a few. :P Various birds (mainly parrots, magpies, crows and the like), some lizards like blue tongues and geckos and a few mammals like possums and kangaroos
Jaw fragment of a giant brachyopoid from the Elliot Formation, South Africa represents an animal c.7 metres long - however the fossil could either be Early Jurassic or latest Triassic.
Fantastic work again from you and the team Andrew! I was looking forward to this episode, Koolasuchus is one of my favourites. I'd love to interview Leslie Kool one day and get her to recount the story of its discovery. Keep up the great work!
Thank you so much Dominic! An interview with Lesley Kool is an awesome idea. Perhaps we can organise that interview on Prehistoric Australia in the future? I can't say anything official yet, but let's just say, we may be organising interviews with Australian palaeontologists as we speak... ;)
Another amazing video! I'll definitely write an article about our big headed highlander amphibian in the future! But I wonder... how big were those crocs who co-existed with Koolasuchus? And where did they come from?
Thanks Gyorgy :) It was definitely a unique episode even for the time. You should check out our videos reviewing Walking with Dinosaurs: Spirits of the Ice Forest!
Thank you for this wonderful Video. It's really sad that the Temnospondyls extinct, but I'm still convinced that lissamphibians are living successors from the Temnospondyls (Amphibamids). In this way I see in modern frogs and salamanders Temnospondyls how I see dinosaurs in birds. I know the origin of lissamphibians is still disputed... Koolasuchus may be the last fossil evidence of the large Temnos, but how many species are vanished without traces? I often have the impression we have snapshots in time and places and try to reconstruct the whole movie. How long is the gap between Koolasuchus and the former Temnos? But we have to assume the temnos existed during these gaps as we have to do in case of the coelacanths. In this way how sure is it that Koolasuchus really was the last?
You're more than welcome The Green Dogu :) Glad you loved the video! I think it's sad that the temnospondyls are extinct too. You bring up good points about the scientific debate about whether lissamphibians are modern temnospondyls and, thus, was Koolasuchus cleelandi truly the last temnospondyl? I cut this point from the script for two reasons. The first reason is that, until the debate around lissamphibians is settled and/or even younger Cretaceous temnospondyl fossils are discovered, Koolasuchus cleelandi officially remains the youngest temnospondyl in the fossil record. Following on from that fact, the second reason is brevity and focus; I didn't want this episode to deviate to broad, lengthy discussions about temnospondyl phylogeny that would distract from Koolasuchus cleelandi being the focus of the episode. The evolution of Australian lissamphibians could be an interesting topic for a future episode, however :) Thank you for your support. Hope you enjoy our future videos!
@@PrehistoricAustralia You are right, australian Lissamphibian were nice. I like the australian tree frog (as shown in Stickyfrogs). I look forward for more exciting Vidos - thank you! I once made some videos about frogs - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZBR0DZCbCWs.html - where I tried to approach the origin, but without claim of scientific acuracy!
The coolest prehistoric Australian animal i have come face to face with is the still as yet unnamed Richmond Pelycotilid. Fossil came out of the ground fully articulated. Its easy to imagine as a swift and nimble sea dragon of the Eromunga.
Hi Malkator! Send us your wonderful illustrations to putyourmoneywhereyourmouthis@gmail.com and we'll be happy to consider you as a paleoartist for the channel ;)
