Australian megafauna

A marsupial lion skeleton in the Naracoorte Caves, South Australia

The term Australian megafauna refers to the megafauna in Australia[1] during the Pleistocene Epoch. Most of these species became extinct during the latter half of the Pleistocene, and the roles of human and climatic factors in their extinction are contested.

There are similarities between the prehistoric Australian megafauna and some mythical creatures from the Aboriginal Dreamtime.[2]

  1. ^ Roberts, R. G.; Flannery, T. F.; Ayliffe, L. K.; Yoshida, H.; Olley, J. M.; Prideaux, G. J.; Laslett, G. M.; Baynes, A.; Smith, M. A.; Jones, R.; Smith, B. L. (8 June 2001). "New Ages for the Last Australian Megafauna: Continent-Wide Extinction About 46,000 Years Ago" (PDF). Science. 292 (#5523): 1888–1892. Bibcode:2001Sci...292.1888R. doi:10.1126/science.1060264. PMID 11397939. S2CID 45643228. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
  2. ^ Mackness, B.S. (2009). "Reconstructing Palorchestes (Marsupialia: Palorchestidae) – from Giant Kangaroo to Marsupial 'Tapir'". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 130: 21–36.