Australia loses its megafauna
Diprotodon, Megalania, Genyornis and the giant kangaroos disappear after humans arrive.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 5 thousand years
- Known to
- ± 3 thousand years
- Era
- Late Pleistocene, Quaternary
Australia's large animals — the three-tonne Diprotodon, the marsupial lion, the giant monitor Megalania, the flightless Genyornis and short-faced kangaroos — are largely gone by around 40,000 years ago, within roughly 20,000 years of human arrival. Burnt Genyornis eggshell across many sites has been read as direct evidence of human predation, though the eggs have since been reattributed by some researchers to a different bird. Climate was also drying. The debate over the balance of causes is unresolved.