How did people live with these giants during a period of such drastic environmental change? How much more change can Australia bear? With an overlap between people and megafauna of some 15,000–20,000 years, new questions arise about co-habitation. With the gaps in the north of the continent the greatest yet to fill. New discoveries will plug up the key gaps in the record. The megafauna extinction debate will no doubt continue for years to come. This combination of factors may have proven fatal to the giant land and aquatic species. The timeframe of their disappearance coincided with sustained regional changes in available water and vegetation, as well as increased fire frequency. ![]() The extinctions of these tropical megafauna occurred sometime after our youngest fossil site formed, around 40,000 years ago. However, this theory is not supported by our finding that a diverse collection of these ancient giants still survived 40,000 years ago, after humans had spread around the continent.įossil seeds, leaves and insects help palaeontologists reconstruct the megafauna’s environment. Why did these megafauna become extinct? It has been argued that the extinctions were due to over-hunting by humans, and occurred shortly after people arrived in Australia. Whodunnit? The evidence points to environmental change Living alongside these giants were other megafauna species that still survive today: the emu, the red kangaroo and the saltwater crocodile. The biggest of all the mammals was the three-tonne marsupial Diprotodon, and the deadliest was the pouched predator Thylacoleo. With an estimated mass of 274 kg, it beats the previous contender, the goliath short-faced kangaroo, Procoptodon goliah. The mammals were equally bizarre, including a giant bucktoothed wombat, a strange “bear-sloth” marsupial, and enormous kangaroos and wallabies.Ī yet-to-be named giant kangaroo is the largest ever found. Imagine first sighting a six-metre goanna and its Komodo Dragon-sized relative, or bumping into a land-dwelling crocodile and its plate-mail armoured aquatic cousin. Pictured here next to the previous titleholder, Procoptodon goliah. The giant kangaroo of South Walker Creek may be the largest kangaroo ever found. University of Wollongong, Southern Cross University, University of Queensland, and University of Adelaide provide funding as members of The Conversation AU. University of Melbourne provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation AU. Renaud Joannes-Boyau receives funding from the Australian Research Council Partners Patrick Moss receives funding from the Australian Research Council. Lee Arnold receives funding from the Australian Research Council. ![]() Gilbert Price receives funding from the Australian Research Council. Scott Hocknull receives funding from Queensland Museum and Queensland Museum Foundation.Īnthony Dosseto receives funding from the Australian Research Council. ![]() Senior research fellow, Southern Cross University Lecturer in Palaeontology, The University of QueenslandĪssociate Professor in Earth Sciences, University of Adelaide APO/FPO, Afghanistan, Africa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Aruba, Azerbaijan Republic, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bhutan, British Virgin Islands, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, China, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Europe, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Georgia, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Martinique, Mexico, Middle East, Mongolia, Montserrat, Nepal, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Oceania, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Qatar, Reunion, Russian Federation, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South America, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands (U.S.Senior Curator of Geosciences, Queensland Museum, and Honorary Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne
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