Australia's megafauna: Did the giants of prehistoric times die out not by humans but by nature?

For a long time, Australia's first human inhabitants were considered the main reason for the extinction of giant kangaroos, wombat relatives and other prehistoric giants. But a new study questions this assumption. An analysis of a millennia-old bone suggests that drastic climate changes and natural environmental factors did not seal the end of megafauna.

Riesenameisenigel, Kurznasenkängurus, Diprotodontidae und ein Beutelwolf gehören zu den Fossilien ausgestorbener Tiere, die in der Mammoth Cave im Südwesten von Western Australia gefunden wurden. Credit: Peter Schouten

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Das Schienbein einer urzeitlichen Känguruart weist eine Schnittwunde auf, die vermutlich lange nach dem Tod des Tieres entstanden ist. Credit: Royal Society Open Science