Several theories have suggested either humans, climate change or both drove megafauna extinctions in Southeast Asia. Our newest work suggests otherwise.
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Articles on Megafauna
Displaying 21 - 40 of 70 articles
The extinct Mukupirna - which translates to ‘big bones’ - is estimated to have been more than four times larger than any living wombat.
These megafauna were the largest land animals to live in Australia since the time of the dinosaurs.
The historical record is full of surprises – and it could encourage conservationists to think more creatively.
Overhunting of megafauna such as mammoths may have force us to take up farming, ultimately leading to modern society
A drying climate and the arrival of people together finished off Australia’s megafauna.
After the woolly mammoth and other megafauna became extinct, surviving animals mingled less. This has big implications for modern conservation.
Europe is getting wilder as more people live in cities, but Naya’s death shows this trend may have limits.
A new analysis of an extinct giant kangaroo skull suggests it was adapted to eat tough, woody material - a feeding style not found in any modern marsupials.
The newly discovered Heracles inexpectatus stood nearly a metre tall. And its fossil bones sat undiscovered on a museum shelf for more than a decade before its hefty status was finally appreciated.
Our work represents the first assessment of what social and economic factors are connected to environmental degradation across the entire African continent.
Far more megafauna species use coastal wetlands than we thought. And it affects the way we need to address the extinction crisis.
It is plausible to suppose that human memories of long-extinct creatures today underpin many stories we have generally regarded as fiction.
Long-standing assumption that humans killed large mammals 4.5m years ago has been debunked by researchers – but some experts still think humans played a part in the demise of biodiversity
A series of new studies sheds light on the population crash and extinction of the giant birds, lemurs and more that roamed the island until around A.D. 700-1000.
Amid a growing human population, African elephants are confined to an increasingly managed existence. Do we want more for one of the world’s most loved species?
An internet-breaking 6'4" steer isn’t the only animal to reach gigantic proportions.
The 19th-century British anatomist Richard Owen downplayed the role of colonial contributors and largely ignored the importance of Aboriginal testimony and knowledge in describing the marsupial lion.
How we discovered ancient footprints of early human hunters and their megafauna prey.
Scientists in New Zealand have discovered an extinct penguin known as Kumimanu biceae that was 1.77m tall.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor, Vertebrate Palaeontology Group, Flinders University
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Lecturer in Palaeontology, The University of Queensland
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Professor of Wildlife Conservation, University of Tasmania
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Professor, Griffith University
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Professor, Flinders University
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ARC Laureate Fellow, Charles Sturt University
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Associate Professor in Earth Sciences, Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of Wollongong
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Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Models Theme Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University
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Senior Lecturer, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University
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Research Fellow in Ecology for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University
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Lecturer in Biology, University of Salford
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Researcher, Flinders University
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Professor, Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre, UNSW Sydney
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Pro Vice-Chancellor of Research, University of Technology Sydney
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Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Archaeology, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland
