The term Megafauna means giant animals. The animals that fall in this category generally weigh over 40 kg. For e.g. mammals such as the Diprotodon weighed approximately 2780 kg which is also known as the largest marsupial and Thylacoleo which weighed between 100-1000 kg which is known as the largest meat-eating mammal ever lived. This term is also used to describe the animals that are extinct and use to live millions of years ago. Megafauna in Australia consisted mammals such as the large kangaroos, wombats, and wallaroos, large birds such as large emus and cassowaries, large reptiles such as goanna, saltwater and freshwater crocodiles. The megafauna went extinct around the Pleistocene period which was 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago. There are
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It is believed that the megafauna went extinct when the climate drastically changed from cold to hot and dry. Other factors such as changes in Earth’s orbit, volcanoes, continental drifts and asteroid impacts are also related. This resulted in the scarcity of the surface water. The lakes dried out too. Some of the animals lost their habitat and were left in the dry landscapes [1]. As more detailed environmental data was obtained, it has become obvious that the climate of Sahul (Australia+Tasmania+New Guinea) was increasingly arid and erratic during the past 450,000 years [2]. This change in climate decreased the vegetation, had periodic droughts and changes in the temperatures were observed. The images below show how the land changed and the water became scarce on the maps of …show more content…
Ross MacPhee of the American Museum of Natural History and Mr. Preston Marx of Tulane University in Louisiana states that the megafauna went extinct because of a deadly disease which was spread by a virus that was transmitted by humans and dogs. Although there is no credible and sufficient evidence to support this theory. Not only mammals but a wide range of other species such as replies and birds became extinct. It is doubtful that only one virus can affect such wide range of species [6]. As there is no evidence to support this argument, ill cannot be a significant cause for the extinction of
It is believed that the megafauna went extinct when the climate drastically changed from cold to hot and dry. Other factors such as changes in Earth’s orbit, volcanoes, continental drifts and asteroid impacts are also related. This resulted in the scarcity of the surface water. The lakes dried out too. Some of the animals lost their habitat and were left in the dry landscapes [1]. As more detailed environmental data was obtained, it has become obvious that the climate of Sahul (Australia+Tasmania+New Guinea) was increasingly arid and erratic during the past 450,000 years [2]. This change in climate decreased the vegetation, had periodic droughts and changes in the temperatures were observed. The images below show how the land changed and the water became scarce on the maps of …show more content…
Ross MacPhee of the American Museum of Natural History and Mr. Preston Marx of Tulane University in Louisiana states that the megafauna went extinct because of a deadly disease which was spread by a virus that was transmitted by humans and dogs. Although there is no credible and sufficient evidence to support this theory. Not only mammals but a wide range of other species such as replies and birds became extinct. It is doubtful that only one virus can affect such wide range of species [6]. As there is no evidence to support this argument, ill cannot be a significant cause for the extinction of