Rapha's Giant Short-Faced Kangaroo
Procoptodon rapha
📈😶
Chordata
Mammalia
Diprotodontia
Macropodoidea
Macropodidae
Procoptodon
Procoptodon rapha
The Giant Short-Faced Kangaroo — Procoptodon rapha was one of the largest kangaroos to ever hop across the Australian Pleistocene plains. This upright, leaf-eating giant stood taller than a man, its flat face and forward-facing eyes giving it an almost human look of quiet curiosity.
Description
Procoptodon rapha — Commonly called the Giant Short-Faced Kangaroo, this extinct marsupial belonged to the family Macropodidae within the order Diprotodontia, infraorder Macropodiformes. Adults stood about 2.2 meters tall, with a shoulder height of 1.6 meters and an overall length of 3 meters, weighing up to 240 kilograms. Unlike modern kangaroos, it had a single large toe on each foot and shorter, stronger limbs adapted for upright walking rather than bounding. Its broad muzzle and high-crowned teeth suggest a diet of tough, arid-zone vegetation.
Quick Facts
Max Mass
Shoulder Height
Standing Height
Length
Diet
Trophic Level
180
1.5
2.3
2.3
kg
m
m
m
Mixed Feeder
Omnivores – Balanced
Hunt History
Early Aboriginal Australians likely encountered and hunted Procoptodon rapha as part of the continent’s megafauna. Stone tools and burn marks on bones suggest humans used fire and coordinated drives to trap these kangaroos near waterholes or in open scrublands. Their meat and hides would have been valuable resources, though overhunting and climate shifts together spelled the end for the species.
Archaeological Evidence:
Cuddie Springs, New South Wales — Stone tools and Procoptodon bones found in the same strata, dating to about 36,000 years ago.
Lake Callabonna, South Australia — Fossil deposits showing articulated skeletons buried in clay, roughly 45,000 years old.
Naracoorte Caves, South Australia — Megafaunal remains preserved in sinkholes, associated with human occupation layers around 40,000 years ago.
Time & Range
Extinction Status
Globally Extinct
Extinction Date
Temporal Range
Region
40000
BP
Late Pleistocene
Australia
Wiki Link
Fat Analysis
Fatness Profile:
Medium
Fat %
5
Est. Renderable Fat
9
kg
Targeted Organs
Visceral & subcutaneous
Adipose Depots
Visceral/subcutaneous (general)
Preferred Cuts
Visceral depot
Hunt Difficulty (x/5)
3