It was described from Plio-Pleistocene deposits at the Darling Downs and Chinchilla in southeastern Queensland by Charles De Vis.

A second species, P. naracoortensis, was described in 1974 by van Tets from deposits in the Naracoorte Caves of southeastern South Australia with differing size and leg proportions.

The proportions of the long bones were similar to, though larger and more robust than, those of the malleefowl, and it had a relatively broader bill, head and body.

[3] The thylacine may have been a predator of Progura, as it was adapted to killing large ground-dwelling birds (since its comparatively moderate bite force was more suited to hollow avian bones), such as the Tasmanian nativehen and Tasmanian emu.

[4] Eggs previously assigned to Genyornis are now considered to have belonged to the giant malleefowl.