Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 110, Issue 22, Pages 8777-8781Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1302698110
Keywords
megafauna extinction; Pleistocene extinctions; archaeology; human colonization; faunal turnover
Categories
Funding
- University of New South Wales
- Australian Research Council [DP0666374, DP0987985, DP0557923, DE120101533, DP120101752, LP100200486, LP0989969]
- Australian Research Council [DP0557923, DE120101533] Funding Source: Australian Research Council
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Around 88 large vertebrate taxa disappeared from Sahul sometime during the Pleistocene, with the majority of losses (54 taxa) clearly taking place within the last 400,000 years. The largest was the 2.8-ton browsing Diprotodon optatum, whereas the similar to 100- to 130-kg marsupial lion, Thylacoleo carnifex, the world's most specialized mammalian carnivore, and Varanus priscus, the largest lizard known, were formidable predators. Explanations for these extinctions have centered on climatic change or human activities. Here, we review the evidence and arguments for both. Human involvement in the disappearance of some species remains possible but unproven. Mounting evidence points to the loss of most species before the peopling of Sahul (circa 50-45 ka) and a significant role for climate change in the disappearance of the continent's megafauna.
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