Hoxful Monsters

Killing of animals to extinction for various reasons is not new to humans in fact new research indicates the role played by our ancestors in the extinction of Australia’s prehistoric animals.The study, which was carried out by a team including a scientist from the University of Exeter and was published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, provides the first evidence that Tasmania’s giant kangaroos and marsupial ‘rhinos’ and ‘leopards’ were still roaming the island when humans first arrived,indicating that man also played his part in extinctions and not climate alone as previously thought.

People only arrived in Tasmania around 43,000 years ago, when the island became temporarily connected by a land bridge to mainland Australia.This new international study using latest radiocarbon and luminescence dating techniques reports the discovery of giant kangaroos surviving in Tasmania until people arrived, placing humans back on the list of likely culprits for the subsequent extinction of the megafauna.Professor Chris Turney of the University of Exeter’s School of Geography, Archaeology and Earth Resources, lead author of the paper, said: “Ever since Charles Darwin’s discovery of giant ground sloth remains in South America, debate has ensued about the cause of early extinction of the world’s megafauna. Now, 150 years on from the publication of Darwin’s seminal work The Origin of Species, the argument for climate change being the cause of this mass extinction has been seriously undermined. It is sad to know that our ancestors played such a major role in the extinction of these species – and sadder still when we consider that this trend continues today.”

The victims of Tasmania’s first humans:

Zygomaturus trilobus. A rhino-like marsupial. Weight: approx 500 kg.
Palorchestes azael. A marsupial similar to a ground-sloth. Weight: approx 500 kg.
Metasthenurus newtonae. A large, short-faced kangaroo that browsed like an antelope. Weight: approx 150 kg.
Simosthenurus occidentalis. A smaller short-faced kangaroo. Weight: 100-130 kg.
Protemnodon anak. A long-faced, long-necked kangaroo, like a long-necked browsing antelope. Weight: approx 120 kg.
Thylacoleo carnifex. A leopard-like marsupial. Weight: approx 70-100 kg.
Megalibgwilia sp. A monotreme (egg-laying mammal) similar in shape and size to the long-beaked echidna of New Guinea. Weight: approx 10 kg.

Professor Chris Turney,lead author of paper in PNAS is from the University of Exeter’s School of Geography, Archaeology and Earth Resources