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Scientists Unlock Secrets Of Australia's Giant 30kg Koalas

independent.co.uk — Hundreds of thousands of years ago, giant versions of Australia's unique wildlife stalked the continent. There were kangaroos up to 3m tall and enormous wallabies, wombats and echidnas. There were also koalas: larger and weightier than the creatures sometimes seen today in eucalyptus trees.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jan 5, 2009

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  • inactive, on 01/05/2009, -2/+22Drop bears are still deadly.
  • Borg7609, on 01/04/2009, -1/+18Cute fuzzy GIANT koalas that could rip you to shreds in seconds!
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  • TeraRealm256, on 01/05/2009, -0/+12"My apartment is infested with koala bears. Its the cutest infestation ever. Much better than cockroaches. I turn the lights on and the koalas scatter. I'm like, come back! I want to hold one of you, and feed you a leaf." ~Mitch Hedberg~ RIP! SOOO FUNNY YOU WERE!!
  • elliotys, on 01/05/2009, -2/+12It's so obvious. There was not enough room on the Ark for the bigger Koala's.
  • agentbob, on 01/05/2009, -0/+9looks like I posted just in time then.
  • blitzkriegpunk, on 01/05/2009, -0/+8***** drop bears. Deadly, I tells ya.
  • ultraseamus, on 01/05/2009, -5/+13I came in here to see at least one giant pedobear, the one time I wanted to see somethign from 4chan, and Digg lets me down.

    Edit: I knew it.
  • krasht, on 01/05/2009, -0/+7They may be cute, but they're pretty vicious little bastards.
  • Autrix, on 01/05/2009, -0/+6Clearly Australia used to be world 4 from Super Mario 3
  • bigfreakinlion, on 01/05/2009, -0/+4What secrets were unlocked? All the article did was explain that they still have no idea why the big ones died and the little ones didn't.

    Still, dugg for koalas.
  • lintmonkey, on 01/05/2009, -0/+3The megafauna disappeared, so there were no trees strong enough to support them and they all fell to their deaths. Mystery solved.
  • killerknives, on 01/05/2009, -4/+7http://letmegooglethatforyou.com/?q=30kg+to+pounds
  • inactive, on 01/05/2009, -0/+330kg Koalas? Sounds like the direct result of John Howard raping our wildlife.
  • Gizza, on 01/06/2009, -0/+3They're also not bears.
  • FrozenGonad, on 01/05/2009, -0/+3It'll look pretty big when it sneaks into your tent and ***** YOU UP THE ASS!
  • ultraseamus, on 01/05/2009, -1/+4Just in time to discredit my intended claims of physic powers.
  • sgtbutterscotch, on 01/05/2009, -1/+4My name is graywolfz10 and I'm an ass-face.
  • graywolfz10, on 01/05/2009, -0/+2I think you just solved the mystery... Have you ever thought of a career in SCIENCE?
  • inactive, on 01/06/2009, -0/+2I used to feed my drummer leaves. No *****. If I didn't it would get all angry and *****.
  • pingudownunder, on 01/07/2009, -0/+2If you're visiting Australia, then make sure you were a slather of Vegemite on your nose (similar to Zinc Cream). Dropbears hate the smell of the stuff so will avoid attacking you.
  • Lazydriver, on 01/05/2009, -0/+1It's Koalas, apostrophes dictate possessiveness, not plurality.

    But dugg up anyway.
  • graywolfz10, on 01/05/2009, -0/+1that joke was already made 15 times, try and be original.
  • Tylerbinski, on 01/05/2009, -0/+1LOL.. I see what you did there.
  • theOster, on 01/05/2009, -0/+1"Those cute, cuddly creatures - the 'koala bear'. They sleep by day and make love by night, as we do mostly."
  • OutpostNetwork, on 01/05/2009, -2/+3It sounds like the smaller Koala's survived because they required less eucalyptus leaves than the bigger of the 2 species. That makes sense.
  • aufte, on 01/05/2009, -0/+1o.O
  • replaysMike, on 01/06/2009, -0/+1they're gone, but they were DELICIOUS!
  • Twenty, on 01/05/2009, -0/+1It's 3 x (1 regular koala)
  • garryw, on 01/05/2009, -0/+1Baxter's "Manifold Space" book has 9 foot kangaroos and giant koalas. If you read sci-fi it's a good one.
  • jotux, on 01/05/2009, -1/+2You can use either one but I think 'weightier' also implies greater importance as well as mass.
  • feenxfire, on 01/05/2009, -0/+1Sounds like Koalawalla Land, to me.
  • the2989, on 01/09/2009, -0/+1http://img60.imageshack.us/img60/8928/koalakp2.jpg
  • Briandt75, on 01/05/2009, -0/+1Dugg for Mitch Hedberg. Krasht, you're an idiot.
  • Fogdelune, on 01/06/2009, -0/+1I for one welcome our new monster marsupial overlords.
  • graywolfz10, on 01/05/2009, -0/+1Have you been reading my profile?
  • djodorg, on 01/07/2009, -0/+1I've seen these beautiful work of nature. Koalas are very cute.
  • Briandt75, on 01/05/2009, -0/+1realizing that you're being a jackass doesn't stop you from being a jackass.
  • inactive, on 01/06/2009, -0/+1Zzrop 'ears?
  • slapthemonkey, on 01/06/2009, -0/+1Science explores fantastic truths
  • AmandaQ, on 01/06/2009, -0/+1Damn, they're extinct! What a ripoff this article turned out to be.
  • adiggityam, on 01/06/2009, -0/+1I, for one, welcome our...what? They're dead? M-hrm.
  • inactive, on 01/05/2009, -2/+2CROIKEY WHAT A BEAUT!
  • chrisOrbit, on 01/05/2009, -2/+1Another reason never to go to Australia.
  • CasualEncounter, on 01/05/2009, -1/+0Bigfreakinlion, although the title of the article is a bit deceiving, I think it aimed to say that the scientists are still in the progress of unlocking these so-called "secrets". I'm curious to know if they do discover why the larger specimens died out as opposed to the smaller ones, how will that be applied/benefit the current well-being of koalas. I mean look at dinosaurs, they were huge cold-blooded reptiles that died out, and yet its smaller counterparts(lizards, komodo dragon, etc) survived. Obviouslykoalas and lizards have survived this long, how can something that ended so long ago influence the current state of what is now.
  • kronzdigg, on 01/05/2009, -2/+1The climate was warmer then allowing for a longer growing season and larger animals. down with gore
  • caboose1123, on 01/05/2009, -3/+2Koala bears are so ***** cute, why do they have to be so far away from me? We need to ship a few over, and I will apprehend one and hold one, and pat it on its head
  • heatsink, on 01/05/2009, -1/+0Please refer to XKCD comic 526 (http://www.xkcd.com/526/) for relative weight of a 30kg koala.

    ... yes, I realize 30kg isn't listed, but you get the idea
  • graywolfz10, on 01/05/2009, -3/+1Congrats you liked Mitch Hedberg before he died and became popular, your so cool I bet you get all the ladies!

    O wait you don't because your a douche who has to prove how cool he is on the internet.
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