What caused extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna of sahul?

C. N. Johnson; J. Alroy; N. J. Beeton; M. I. Bird; B. W. Brook; A. Cooper; R. Gillespie; S. Herrando-PÉrez; Z. Jacobs; G. H. Miller; G. J. Prideaux; R. G. Roberts; M. Rodríguez-Rey; F. SaltrÉ; C. S M Turney; C. J A Bradshaw

doi:10.1098/rspb.2015.2399

What caused extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna of sahul?

C. N. Johnson^*, J. Alroy, N. J. Beeton, M. I. Bird, B. W. Brook, A. Cooper, R. Gillespie, S. Herrando-PÉrez, Z. Jacobs, G. H. Miller, G. J. Prideaux, R. G. Roberts, M. Rodríguez-Rey, F. SaltrÉ, C. S M Turney, C. J A Bradshaw

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

47 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

During the Pleistocene, Australia and New Guinea supported a rich assemblage of large vertebrates. Why these animals disappeared has been debated for more than a century and remains controversial. Previous synthetic reviews of this problem have typically focused heavily on particular types of evidence, such as the dating of extinction and human arrival, and have frequently ignored uncertainties and biases that can lead to misinterpretation of this evidence. Here, we review diverse evidence bearing on this issue and conclude that, although many knowledge gaps remain, multiple independent lines of evidence point to direct human impact as the most likely cause of extinction.

Original language	English
Article number	20152399
Pages (from-to)	1-8
Number of pages	8
Journal	Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Volume	283
Issue number	1824
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2399
Publication status	Published - 10 Feb 2016

Keywords

Archeology
Climate change
Human impacts
Palaeoecology
Prehistory
Quaternary

Access to Document

10.1098/rspb.2015.2399

Cite this

Johnson, C. N., Alroy, J., Beeton, N. J., Bird, M. I., Brook, B. W., Cooper, A., Gillespie, R., Herrando-PÉrez, S., Jacobs, Z., Miller, G. H., Prideaux, G. J., Roberts, R. G., Rodríguez-Rey, M., SaltrÉ, F., Turney, C. S. M., & Bradshaw, C. J. A. (2016). What caused extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna of sahul? Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 283(1824), 1-8. [20152399]. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2399

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title = "What caused extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna of sahul?",

abstract = "During the Pleistocene, Australia and New Guinea supported a rich assemblage of large vertebrates. Why these animals disappeared has been debated for more than a century and remains controversial. Previous synthetic reviews of this problem have typically focused heavily on particular types of evidence, such as the dating of extinction and human arrival, and have frequently ignored uncertainties and biases that can lead to misinterpretation of this evidence. Here, we review diverse evidence bearing on this issue and conclude that, although many knowledge gaps remain, multiple independent lines of evidence point to direct human impact as the most likely cause of extinction.",

keywords = "Archeology, Climate change, Human impacts, Palaeoecology, Prehistory, Quaternary",

author = "Johnson, {C. N.} and J. Alroy and Beeton, {N. J.} and Bird, {M. I.} and Brook, {B. W.} and A. Cooper and R. Gillespie and S. Herrando-P{\'E}rez and Z. Jacobs and Miller, {G. H.} and Prideaux, {G. J.} and Roberts, {R. G.} and M. Rodr{\'i}guez-Rey and F. Saltr{\'E} and Turney, {C. S M} and Bradshaw, {C. J A}",

year = "2016",

month = feb,

day = "10",

doi = "10.1098/rspb.2015.2399",

language = "English",

volume = "283",

pages = "1--8",

journal = "Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences",

issn = "0962-8452",

publisher = "ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY",