Koolasuchus: Last of the Giant Amphibians

Ғылым және технология

Season 1 Episode 3 explores what life was like for Koolasuchus cleelandi!
Learn about the science and scientific speculation behind Koolasuchus.
Famously known from the BBC documentary 'Walking with Dinosaurs'.
This Australian temnospondyl lived in Victoria 120 million years ago. It was an aquatic predator that looked like a gigantic salamander.
Like and subscribe to Prehistoric Australia!
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0:00 Introduction
01:04 Local Geology
01:24 Fossils
02:33 Origin Story
04:24 Habitat
05:09 Physical Appearance
06:37 Predatory Lifestyle
9:11 Reproduction
10:24 Life Cycle
11:29 Surviving Freezing Temperatures
13:03​ Extinction of Koolasuchus
16:01 Final Thoughts
17:28 Credits
18:10 Reference List
---
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Пікірлер: 52

  • @PrehistoricAustralia
    @PrehistoricAustralia2 жыл бұрын

    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

  • @robertgomez5985

    @robertgomez5985

    2 жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @pedrord19
    @pedrord193 жыл бұрын

    Koolasuchus starts it's fame journey with Walking with Dinosaurs and now, thanks to the Jurassic games (Alive and The Game), he is a superstar !!! ✨⭐✨

  • @harnawazboparai3031
    @harnawazboparai30313 жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @PrehistoricAustralia

    @PrehistoricAustralia

    3 жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @wenthulk8439

    @wenthulk8439

    Жыл бұрын

    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

  • @rileyernst9086
    @rileyernst9086 Жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @theraptorore1785
    @theraptorore17853 жыл бұрын

    I'm very impressed by the amount of info you collected on Koolasuchus, congrats!!

  • @PrehistoricAustralia

    @PrehistoricAustralia

    3 жыл бұрын

    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 :)

  • @theraptorore1785

    @theraptorore1785

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@PrehistoricAustralia keep up the good work!!

  • @empathytobacco2008
    @empathytobacco20083 жыл бұрын

    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!

  • @PrehistoricAustralia

    @PrehistoricAustralia

    3 жыл бұрын

    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!

  • @dominiclindus2535
    @dominiclindus25353 жыл бұрын

    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!

  • @PrehistoricAustralia

    @PrehistoricAustralia

    3 жыл бұрын

    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... ;)

  • @successmeditations110
    @successmeditations1102 күн бұрын

    I have been chased by a frill neck, and followed an echidna in the wild.

  • @koolas_9429
    @koolas_94292 жыл бұрын

    Great video, very interesting. Needs more views! :)

  • @PrehistoricAustralia

    @PrehistoricAustralia

    Жыл бұрын

    Thanks KOOLAS _ 😄 Haha we agree!

  • @rileyernst9086
    @rileyernst9086 Жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @piterkristianto5647
    @piterkristianto56477 ай бұрын

    nice explanation... I know this last giant amphibians from BBC walking with dinosaurs

  • @Abominatrix650
    @Abominatrix6503 жыл бұрын

    This is a fascinating video. Greatly educational whilst also not getting boring at all! I think I'll check this channel out!

  • @PrehistoricAustralia

    @PrehistoricAustralia

    3 жыл бұрын

    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 :)

  • @wenthulk8439
    @wenthulk8439 Жыл бұрын

    The Japanese Giant Salamander is a sedentary ambush predator too

  • @jakohara6789
    @jakohara6789 Жыл бұрын

    I love these videos

  • @19megamustaine85
    @19megamustaine85 Жыл бұрын

    Great video spirits of the ice forest walking with dinosaurs was my favorite episode ,it was kinda different than the others .

  • @PrehistoricAustralia

    @PrehistoricAustralia

    Жыл бұрын

    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!

  • @valentinfejes
    @valentinfejes3 жыл бұрын

    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?

  • @PrehistoricAustralia

    @PrehistoricAustralia

    3 жыл бұрын

    Thanks Valentin! We're happy you loved our video! I don't know the answer to your questions but I'll find out :)

  • @valentinfejes

    @valentinfejes

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@PrehistoricAustralia You're very welcome! And many thanks in advance!

  • @TyrannoNoddy
    @TyrannoNoddy3 жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @PrehistoricAustralia

    @PrehistoricAustralia

    3 жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @TyrannoNoddy

    @TyrannoNoddy

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@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

  • @TyrannoNoddy

    @TyrannoNoddy

    3 жыл бұрын

    (if you include captive animals the list would grow a lot bigger too)

  • @PrehistoricAustralia

    @PrehistoricAustralia

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@TyrannoNoddy I always find it fun to remind the average person that parrots, magpies, crows, emus etc are Australian dinosaurs living today :)

  • @Spike_The_Beach_Buddy

    @Spike_The_Beach_Buddy

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@PrehistoricAustralia I know you

  • @wolfgangmercury774
    @wolfgangmercury7743 жыл бұрын

    Very nice videos. This channel deserves a ton more subscribers.

  • @PrehistoricAustralia

    @PrehistoricAustralia

    3 жыл бұрын

    Thank you Wolfgang Mercury :) Glad you are enjoying our videos!

  • @cinthialara386
    @cinthialara3867 ай бұрын

    Gret video by the way what are the close relatives of kooalasuchus, diplocaulus ando sarcosuchus?

  • @james739123
    @james7391232 жыл бұрын

    if you can, can anyone tell me who or what was the largest amphibian of the Jurassic period anywhere at all, i figured best to ask in a newer video

  • @Ozraptor4

    @Ozraptor4

    Жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @jacksonseyl5255
    @jacksonseyl52552 ай бұрын

    I thought it was the crocodiles that drove the giant amphibians to extinction.

  • @TheGreenDogu
    @TheGreenDogu3 жыл бұрын

    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?

  • @PrehistoricAustralia

    @PrehistoricAustralia

    3 жыл бұрын

    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!

  • @TheGreenDogu

    @TheGreenDogu

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@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 - kzread.info/dash/bejne/jHaGkqaTc8Wph9Y.html - where I tried to approach the origin, but without claim of scientific acuracy!

  • @PrehistoricAustralia

    @PrehistoricAustralia

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@TheGreenDogu The Australian tree frog is just the cutest amphibian haha! Nice videos too :) Thanks for sharing!

  • @coralmar5329
    @coralmar53293 жыл бұрын

    I came face to face with an emu - certtainly felt like a dinosaur :p

  • @PrehistoricAustralia

    @PrehistoricAustralia

    3 жыл бұрын

    An emu is definitely a living Australian avian dinosaur! 😁 Great animal to come face to face with!!

  • @wenthulk8439
    @wenthulk8439 Жыл бұрын

    Not too sure about the crocodilians being active predators as they are ambush predators. But otherwise you make good points

  • @RenzitoARG
    @RenzitoARG3 жыл бұрын

    I've a feelling this this is a more gay version of PBS Eons' "When Giant Amphibians Reigned".

  • @PrehistoricAustralia

    @PrehistoricAustralia

    3 жыл бұрын

    Clearly someone who hasn’t watched the video 😂

  • @malkatortempestus5722
    @malkatortempestus57223 жыл бұрын

    Not joking here, are you guys being held at gunpoint to use these terrible illustrations?

  • @PrehistoricAustralia

    @PrehistoricAustralia

    3 жыл бұрын

    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 ;)

  • @calebsmith2362
    @calebsmith2362 Жыл бұрын

    Brilliant video. I have always found temnospondyls especially interesting.

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