Climate change frames debate over the extinction of megafauna in Sahul (Pleistocene Australia-New Guinea)

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1302698110
• Publication Date: 2013-05-07T04:00:47Z
• Authors: Stephen Wroe; Judith H. Field; Michael Archer; Donald K. Grayson; Gilbert J. Price; Julien Louys; J. Tyler Faith; Gregory E. Webb; Iain Davidson; Scott D. Mooney
• Keywords: bird; Climate Change; Genyornis newtoni; Macropu; Evolutionary biology not elsewhere classified; Diprotodontia; Extinction, Biological; 333; glacial period; Species Specificity; Pleistocene extinctions; Animals; Humans; Keywords: Anura; Human Activities; 0601 history and archaeology; human; Diprotodon optatum; fauna; Macropus bernardus; crocodile; History, Ancient; Human colonization; New Guinea; fossil; Faunal turnover; Australia; Paleontology; environmental change; 06 humanities and the arts; 15. Life on land; kangaroo; climate change; Macropus giganteus; Archaeology; Macropus antilopinus; 13. Climate action; 1000 General; Vertebrates; Megafauna extinction; body size

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 browsingDiprotodon optatum, whereas the ∼100- to 130-kg marsupial lion,Thylacoleo carnifex, the world’s most specialized mammalian carnivore, andVaranus 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.