GUILTY OF MEGAFAUANACIDE!
Good of the BBC to let us know that as if we didn’t carry enough guilt for our stewardship of planet Earth it also turns out that a new fossil study of the extinct giant kangaroo has added weight to the theory that humans were responsible for the demise of “megafauna” 46,000 years ago.
The decline of plants through widespread fire or changes toward an arid climate have also played into the debate about the animals’ demise.But an analysis of kangaroo fossils suggested they ate saltbush, which would have thrived in those conditions
So, we killed megaskippy! Hope you’re proud of yourselves! What’s that you say Skippy – BBC are talking nonsense?
Just as well! Can you imagine trying to box with a GIANT kangaroo?
me thinks they’re talking nonsense.
On the other hand we were told last week that Woolly Mammoths did not die out 21,000 years ago because of human activity but 15,000 years ago because of
Climate Change !
Scientists have held various theories on the demise of most of the world’s megafauna since the end of the last ice age. However the evidence that they were wiped out by humans rather than climate change is now mounting. A few points:
* The extinctions happened over a long time period, often in periods of little climate change.
* There had been several glacial periods followed by warmer interglacials, that these animals survived.
* Many megafauna became extinct on the mainland but survived long afterwards on islands. For example the woolly mammoth became extinct on the mainland of Eurasia about 12 000 years ago but persisted on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean till as recently as 4 000 years ago. Not long after the arrival of humans on the island it disappeared.
* The last megafauna extinction happened recently enough for much to be known about it, that was the extinction of the moa of New Zealand. These giant birds died out by 1500 AD, indisputably because of Maori hunting.