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A marsupial lion skeleton in the Naracoorte Caves, South Australia. The term Australian megafauna refers to the megafauna in Australia [1] during the Pleistocene Epoch.Most of these species became extinct during the latter half of the Pleistocene, and the roles of human and climatic factors in their extinction are contested.
The climate change in Australia 45,000 years ago destabilized the ecosystem, making it particularly vulnerable to hunting and fire agriculture by humans; this is probably what led to the extinction of the Australian megafauna. Several studies provide evidence that climate change caused megafaunal extinction during the Pleistocene in Australia.
Gallus excavated a hearth in 1971, from which charcoal was radiocarbon-dated to about 31,000 years BP, making Keilor one of the earliest sites of human habitation in Australia. [2] Remains of extinct megafauna species within the site were assessed as being possibly as recent as 20,000 years ago, although dating of the bones is problematic.
The skull and nearly complete dentition of a 15-million-year-old monotreme, Obdurodon dicksoni, provide a window into the evolution of this characteristically Australian group. Fossil ancestors of the recently extinct thylacine , Thylacinus cynocephalus , have also been identified among Riversleigh's fauna.
Megalania (Varanus priscus) is an extinct species of giant monitor lizard, [1] part of the megafaunal assemblage that inhabited Australia during the Pleistocene.It is the largest terrestrial lizard known to have existed, but the fragmentary nature of known remains make estimates highly uncertain.
Horton therefore claimed that Lancefield is a decisive example of the survival of Australian Megafauna for many thousands of years after the arrival of modern humans in prehistoric Sahul. [ 2 ] However, when Lancefield Swamp was investigated by van Huet, it was found that the bones had been reworked by fast-flowing water at some time after the ...
Thylacoleo is thought to have become extinct around 40,000 years ago as part of the Late Pleistocene megafauna extinctions, essentially simultanteously with the vast majority of Australian megafauna. It has been contested as to the relative importance of climatic change vs the impact of recently arrived Indigenous Australians (who arrived in ...
The prehistory of Australia is the period between the first human habitation of the Australian continent and the colonisation of Australia in 1788, which marks the start of consistent written documentation of Australia. This period has been variously estimated, with most evidence suggesting that it goes back between 50,000 and 65,000 years.