A new study shows Palorchestes had unique elbows unlike any other mammal, which may have contributed to its extinction.
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Articles on Megafauna
Displaying 21 - 40 of 73 articles
This newly discovered ancient monk seal is challenging previous theories about how and where monachine seals evolved. It’s the biggest breakthrough in seal evolution research in about 70 years.
Tooth fossils from NSW have confirmed sauropods weren’t exclusive to Queensland. They’re also providing a first look at how these colossal dinosaurs fed from Australia’s land.
Several theories have suggested either humans, climate change or both drove megafauna extinctions in Southeast Asia. Our newest work suggests otherwise.
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.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor, Vertebrate Palaeontology Group, Flinders University
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Professor of Wildlife Conservation, University of Tasmania
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Lecturer in Palaeontology, The University of Queensland
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Professor, Griffith University
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Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Node Leader in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, Flinders 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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Professor, Flinders University
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Distinguished Professor, Charles Sturt University
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Researcher, Flinders 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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Pro Vice-Chancellor of Research, University of Technology Sydney
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Professor, Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre, UNSW Sydney
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Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Archaeology, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland
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Senior Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide
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Lecturer in Biology, University of Salford
