Who lives in this cave?

Pack your bags for an expedition into the Pleistocene. Here’s your chance to solve a palaeontological mystery.

Something is missing from the illustration below, created by palaeoartist Beth Zaiken. Can you piece together the clues to figure out who lived there?

An empty cave with scratches on the wall, animal remains and bones on the floor — An empty cave, or is it? Artist: Beth Zaiken.

Palaeontologists don’t just learn about the past by studying fossils. They also look for other evidence left behind by ancient creatures. This can include clues to where they lived, what they ate, and how they walked or raised their young.

Can you collect the clues to discover who lived in this cave?

The same cave image as the previous page, with the scratches on the wall highlighted. — Click to zoom and take a closer look.

Look closely around the cave. There are a lot of scratch marks on the walls. What can they tell us about the animal who lives here?

It’s trying to get out.

It’s learning to climb and play.

Yes, it’s possible this is a safe place for a young creature to test out its claws. It’s unlikely that an animal could be trapped here. Since there’s a lot of sunlight, it’s probably quite easy to get out.

It’s sharpening its claws.

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The same cave again, with the bones on the floor highlighted. — Click to zoom and take a closer look.

What else do you see inside this cave? How long do you think this animal has lived here?

It probably just fell into a hole and was trapped.

The animal was recently washed in by a flood.

The scattered bones suggest an animal has been feeding here for a while.

The bones in the cave tell us that this is a site that has been used and reused over time.

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The same cave again, with the animal remains on the floor highlighted. — Click to zoom and take a closer look.

There are not only bones in this cave, but fresh animal remains. What can they tell us about the creature who lives here?

It is a meat eater.

It certainly looks like the cave’s resident is a carnivore. It may be a predator that drags dead animals into the cave.

It eats leaves.

It fell in a hole and died.

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The same cave with a joey Thylacoleo revealed. — Click to zoom and take a closer look.

Look, it’s a baby! What does this tell us about the creature who lives here?

It eats babies.

It’s really small.

It’s raising its young in the safety of the cave.

It looks like the animal is using this cave as a maternity den—a place to raise this little joey.

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Given all we’ve figured out from the evidence in the cave, let’s take a guess at what the animal looks like:

It’s a giant owl.

It’s a predatory dinosaur.

It’s probably a mammal.

Like its young, the animal will have fur. This tells us it is a mammal.

Since we’ve already figured out this is likely a maternity den for a large carnivore, we now have enough to reveal its identity …

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It’s Thylacoleo!

The same cave with both the adult and joey Thylacoleo revealed. — Click to zoom and take a closer look. Artist: Beth Zaiken.

Sometimes called the ‘marsupial lion’ Thylacoleo is the largest meat-eating marsupial ever to have lived. Fossils of Thylacoleo have been found in caves, along with scratch marks and evidence that joeys were raised there. Thylacoleo lived across Australia between 2 million and 45,000 years ago.

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Who lives in this cave?

It’s Thylacoleo!

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