Giant fossil kangaroos: scientists identify three new species of extinct megafauna

Protemnodon viator believed to have weighed up to 170kg - double the size of the largest species alive today

Supersized marsupials roamed the Australian continent for millennia. But until now the understanding of giant kangaroos - or Protemnodon - has been confined to isolated bones and difficult-to-distinguish species.

Scientists have now identified three new species of the extinct giant kangaroo - Protemnodon viator, Protemnodon mamkurra and Protemnodon dawsonae, which lived from 5m to 40,000 years ago.

Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup