Hunters or collectors? New evidence challenges claim Australia’s First Peoples sent large animals extinct

By Mike Archer, Professor, Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre, UNSW Sydney
Blake Dickson, Lecturer, School of Biomedical Sciences, UNSW Sydney
Helen Ryan, Collections Manager (Palaeontology), Western Australian Museum
Julien Louys, Professor, Palaeontology, Griffith University
Kenny Travouillon, Curator of Mammals, Western Australian Museum

Tens of thousands of years ago, Australia was still home to enigmatic megafauna – large land animals such as giant marsupial wombats, flightless birds, and short-faced giant kangaroos known as sthenurines.

Then they gradually went extinct. What killed them?

There has long been vigorous debate about whether Australia’s First Peoples were responsible for the extinction of Australia’s megafaunal animals, or whether the primary…

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