New ages for the last Australian megafauna: Continent-wide extinction about 46,000 years ago

Citation
Rg. Roberts et al., New ages for the last Australian megafauna: Continent-wide extinction about 46,000 years ago, SCIENCE, 292(5523), 2001, pp. 1888-1892
Citations number
40
Language
INGLESE
art.tipo
Article
Categorie Soggetti
Multidisciplinary,Multidisciplinary,Multidisciplinary
Journal title
SCIENCE
ISSN journal
0036-8075 → ACNP
Volume
292
Issue
5523
Year of publication
2001
Pages
1888 - 1892
Database
ISI
SICI code
0036-8075(20010608)292:5523<1888:NAFTLA>2.0.ZU;2-L
Abstract
All Australian land mammals, reptiles, and birds weighing more than 100 kil ograms, and six of the seven genera with a body mass of 45 to 100 kilograms , perished in the Late Quaternary. The timing and causes of these extinctio ns remain uncertain. We report burial ages for megafauna from 28 sites and infer extinction across the continent around 46,400 years ago (95% confiden ce interval, 51,200 to 39,800 years ago). Our results rule out extreme arid ity at the Last Glacial Maximum as the cause of extinction, but not other c limatic impacts; a "blitzkrieg" model of human-induced extinction: or an ex tended period of anthropogenic ecosystem disruption.