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Published (Version of record)Extinction of eastern Sahul megafauna coincides with sustained environmental deteriorationCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0, Open
Journal article
Extinction of eastern Sahul megafauna coincides with sustained environmental deterioration
Nature Communications, Vol.11(1), pp.1-14
18/05/2020
PMID: 32418985
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Abstract
Explanations for the Upper Pleistocene extinction of megafauna from Sahul (Australia and New Guinea) remain unresolved. Extinction hypotheses have advanced climate or human-driven scenarios, in spite of over three quarters of Sahul lacking reliable biogeographic or chronologic data. Here we present new megafauna from north-eastern Australia that suffered extinction sometime after 40,100 (±1700) years ago. Megafauna fossils preserved alongside leaves, seeds, pollen and insects, indicate a sclerophyllous forest with heathy understorey that was home to aquatic and terrestrial carnivorous reptiles and megaherbivores, including the world’s largest kangaroo. Megafauna species diversity is greater compared to southern sites of similar age, which is contrary to expectations if extinctions followed proposed migration routes for people across Sahul. Our results do not support rapid or synchronous human-mediated continental-wide extinction, or the proposed timing of peak extinction events. Instead, megafauna extinctions coincide with regionally staggered spatio-temporal deterioration in hydroclimate coupled with sustained environmental change. The causes of the Upper Pleistocene megafauna extinction in Australia and New Guinea are debated, but fossil data are lacking for much of this region. Here, Hocknull and colleagues report a new, diverse megafauna assemblage from north-eastern Australia that persisted until ~40,000 years ago.
Details
- Title
- Extinction of eastern Sahul megafauna coincides with sustained environmental deterioration
- Creators
- Scott A Hocknull (Corresponding Author) - University of MelbourneRichard Lewis - University of AdelaideLee J Arnold - University of AdelaideTim Pietsch - Griffith UniversityRenaud Joannes-Boyau - Southern Cross UniversityGilbert J Price - University of QueenslandPatrick Moss - University of QueenslandRachel H Wood - Australian National UniversityAnthony Dosseto - University of WollongongJulien Louys - Griffith UniversityJon Olley - Griffith UniversityRochelle A Lawrence - Queensland Museum
- Publication Details
- Nature Communications, Vol.11(1), pp.1-14
- Publisher
- Nature Research
- Identifiers
- 991012862797802368
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering; Southern Cross GeoScience; Science
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article