2005/01/01 by Stephen Wroe, Judith Field, Michael Archer +8 · 12 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Business, Management and Accounting · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Bat Biology and Ecology Studies #Business, Education, Mathematics Research #Education and Teacher Training #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Organizational Management and Innovation #Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
paper · doi:10.1073/pnas.1302698110
openalex publication_date 2005/01/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/04/28
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 ∼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.