Big Kill, Not Big Chill, Finished Off Giant Kangaroos
Thursday, March 22, 2012 - 15:00
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Around 40,000 years ago, the giant kangaroo disappeared from Australia. So did Diprotodon ( rhinoceros-size wombats ) and Palorchestes ( tapirlike marsupials ) as well as supersize birds, reptiles and some 50 other so-called megafauna--big animals. And now a record of fungal spores pulled from the swamp at Lynch's Crater in the northeastern corner of the continent reveals humans as the culprit. [More]