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.
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Articles on Megafauna
Displaying 41 - 60 of 73 articles
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.
The new Tasmanian tiger genome reveals some fascinating facts about this extinct marsupial, including why they were so similar to dogs, and how they were growing more vulnerable to genetic disease.
‘Marsupial lions’ aren’t really lions - but they did have teeth that formed a pair of secateur-like blades. The newly found species lived in forests of Queensland around 20 million years ago.
Australia was once home to giant fightless birds - much bigger than today’s emus and cassawories. But where did they come from, and where did they go?
Studies of the fossil teeth of the three-tonne Diprotodon have revealed the now-extinct beast was Australia’s only known seasonally migrating marsupial.
Large birds once lived across Australia, only to become extinct around the time that giant marsupials and other megafauna died out during the Pleistocene “ice ages”.
Layers and layers of sand and sediment collected in Naracoorte Caves create windows into what Australia was like in our recent past.
A burst of wet weather could have helped to kill off mammoths and other large herbivores, by transforming much of the world’s grasslands into bogs and forests and depriving megafauna of food.
The extinction of the giant reptiles, marsupials and birds that once called Australia home has been the subject of much debate, including the role early Australians may have had on their fate.
Ships in Australian waters are getting bigger and more numerous all the time. We need a plan to help them avoid crashing into whales and other large sea creatures.
The jury is in and the debate is over: Earth’s sixth great extinction has arrived.
DNA analysis suggests that a newly discovered species of bison roamed Europe some 17,000 years ago - as prehistoric cave artists were trying to tell us all along.
The Nullarbor is an arid, treeless expanse today. But several hundred thousand years ago it was home to a menagerie of species, including two newly discovered giant cuckoo-like birds.
What killed off Australia’s giant wombats and other megafauna? New dating once again points the finger at human hunters, rather than abrupt changes to the climate.
Our entire knowledge of one of Australia’s extinct ancient giant birds is flawed because experts have been looking at remnants of the wrong egg the whole time.
Every state and territory in Australia should have one: a fossil emblem. Not only can they be good for tourism but they can also help teach people about the ancient history of the regions.
New research challenges previously held views that the Ice Age, giant biblical floods or hunting by humans were the key drivers behind the disappearance of megafauna.
Animals that couldn’t adapt to rapid warming quickly succumbed.
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
