Treasure trove of fossils found Down Under
Australian bones could shed light on prehistoric extinction mystery.
The skeletons of eight new species of extinct kangaroo have been found amongst a bounty of fossils beneath the arid Nullarbor plain in south-central Australia.
In three caves, researchers unearthed the remains of 69 vertebrate species, plus a mollusc, that lived between 800,000 and 200,000 years ago1. The rare find sheds light on an intensely debated topic: what wiped out the large prehistoric animals, or megafauna, that roamed ancient Australia?
Read the full story here.
Comments
according to the artical humans arrived 45,000 years ago. Yet according to other theories man arrive in Australia about 100,000 years ago. So does this mean that man decimated the local population over a longer period of time or did not have an impact at all?
Posted by: Nigel Davenport | January 25, 2007 12:47 AM
Well, the lion skeleton looks nice on display in the museum (and on the photograph), but someone should definitely check the anatomical positioning of the radii...
I'm no expert on Australian fauna, but even extinct species from Down Under are surely not weird enough to have upside down forelimbs... or are they? That would indeed be worthy for the Nature.com frontpage ;-)
Posted by: Christian Meyer | January 25, 2007 10:24 AM
There is ongoing debate about when humans arrived -
most reports put the date between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago and it is generally accepted that they entered via the Indonesian islands.
More well-dated archaeological and paleontological sites would help answer some of these questions as to whether humans caused the extinction of Australia megafauna.
Posted by: Narelle Towie | January 25, 2007 01:16 PM
Its interesting reading the report and looking at the great pics where the photographer is credited but no where did I see credit given to the cavers who actualy discovered the caves and and the fossils and realised what they were and then called in the museumn and paleos. These people are just ordinary indivduals who just happen to love caves and caving and have made many significant discoveries that have advanced science yet the seldom ever recieve credit or acknowledgement and weather it be the media or the professionals that take over this is an unjust way of dealing with the find as the articles and reports usualy imply by that lack of recognition that it was the scientists that discovered them not the ordinary cavers that made the discovery without the financial support of museumns to mount such expiditions. They pay for these trips where these discoveries are made out of their own pocket. So how about giving credit where credit is due otherwise these articles and research wouldnt exist.
Posted by: marie | January 25, 2007 02:18 PM
I am no scientist but, IF the megafoauna was 'wiped out' by early Australian Aboriginals, then there goes the theory that native Australians were 'at one with nature'.
It will make for an interesting discussion if nothing else...
Posted by: David Hewett | January 25, 2007 09:28 PM
I agree with Marie, but I would have also loved to have read how the animals lived, and how they came to be found so deep in the caves. To think that these animals lived so long ago, and are now just being found, is a story worthy of itself. What a bitter end for them it must have been, perishing in a deep, dark cave. Poor guys...
Posted by: Brett | January 26, 2007 03:37 AM
Brett, I suggest you look at http://www.amonline.net.au/geoscience/earth/nullabor.htm, for a description of the Nullarbor Plain where the caves are located. The Plain is a raised sea bed of limestone. The caves have formed by the solution of the limestone by percolating rainwaters. The caves were not necessarily the main habitat of animals like kangaroos or the marsupial "lion", that must have roamed widely in search of food. The caves, of course, would have provided good shelter. The caves could also have been dangerous traps: if an animal fell into a sinkhole, could it climb out again? The caves make natural graveyards in which the animals' remains lie relatively undisturbed until discovered by curious cavers and palaeontologists. Hence the unusually rich and diverse nature of the finds.
Posted by: Bryn | January 29, 2007 08:50 PM
How old are kangaroos?
Posted by: mente | February 11, 2007 12:21 PM