I can't help it, I just love fossils. This is a Dicynodon. It is believed to have lived in Australia over 30 million years ago. It's in the news because palaentologists are very excited - someone recently found a piece of jaw bone washed up on a river bank in Eastern Tasmania. How the hell they knew what it was is beyond me, it just looked like a bit of a tree or an ugly black rock.
This creature was about the size of a cow and was herbivorous - I think the tusks were just for protection, or perhaps rooting around in the ground for food. They have also found bits of it in Antarctica which is no surprise of course because when the giant continent of Gondwana Land was around, Australia and Antarctica were joined. The Dicynodon was a predecessor of the 'modern' dinosaurs and apparently survived a cataclysmic climate change to do that. There may be hope for some of us yet.
image: Mark Boulay, 2006 (I am guessing digitally generated)
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