Not all tree-living animals are active jumpers. Up in the topmost branches of the Eucalyptus trees of the southeastern and southwestern corners of the Australian continent lives a silvery blob, about 70 centimeters (2 feet) long. This is the tubb, a clumsy-looking creature moving sluggishly up and down the silvery grey branches of the Eucalyptus trees, feeding on nothing but the bluish foliage. At first glance it is difficult to imagine that both the tubb and the crackbeak are evolved from the same ancestor, Fulgurotherium, yet there are clues. The hind feet have four toes, the first of which point backwards and allow the animal to grasp branches. The hands have five fingers, the outer two of which are opposable. The deep head has powerful jaw muscles and a sharp beak, for breaking off foo
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| - Not all tree-living animals are active jumpers. Up in the topmost branches of the Eucalyptus trees of the southeastern and southwestern corners of the Australian continent lives a silvery blob, about 70 centimeters (2 feet) long. This is the tubb, a clumsy-looking creature moving sluggishly up and down the silvery grey branches of the Eucalyptus trees, feeding on nothing but the bluish foliage. At first glance it is difficult to imagine that both the tubb and the crackbeak are evolved from the same ancestor, Fulgurotherium, yet there are clues. The hind feet have four toes, the first of which point backwards and allow the animal to grasp branches. The hands have five fingers, the outer two of which are opposable. The deep head has powerful jaw muscles and a sharp beak, for breaking off foo
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| - Not all tree-living animals are active jumpers. Up in the topmost branches of the Eucalyptus trees of the southeastern and southwestern corners of the Australian continent lives a silvery blob, about 70 centimeters (2 feet) long. This is the tubb, a clumsy-looking creature moving sluggishly up and down the silvery grey branches of the Eucalyptus trees, feeding on nothing but the bluish foliage. At first glance it is difficult to imagine that both the tubb and the crackbeak are evolved from the same ancestor, Fulgurotherium, yet there are clues. The hind feet have four toes, the first of which point backwards and allow the animal to grasp branches. The hands have five fingers, the outer two of which are opposable. The deep head has powerful jaw muscles and a sharp beak, for breaking off food from the trees. The other physical features, however, are quite different. The body is round and not suited for rapid movement. The legs are more suited for grasping trunks than for swinging along branches. The tail is short and stubby. It is the two opposable fingers on the hand that reveal the tubb to be closely related to the crackbeak. Of the modern basal ornithopods in other parts of the world, only the taddey of the Indomalayan ecozone possesses this feature.
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