TY - JOUR
T1 - Pleistocene extinction of Genyornis newtoni
T2 - Human impact on Australian megafauna
AU - Miller, Gifford H.
AU - Magee, John W.
AU - Johnson, Beverly J.
AU - Fogel, Marilyn L.
AU - Spooner, Nigel A.
AU - McCulloch, Malcolm T.
AU - Ayliffe, Linda K.
PY - 1999/1/8
Y1 - 1999/1/8
N2 - More than 85 percent of Australian terrestrial genera with a body mass exceeding 44 kilograms became extinct in the Late Pleistocene. Although most were marsupials, the list includes the large, flightless mihirung Genyornis newtoni. More than 700 dates on Genyornis eggshells from three different climate regions document the continuous presence of Genyornis from more than 100,000 years ago until their sudden disappearance 50,000 years ago, about the same time that humans arrived in Australia. Simultaneous extinction of Genyornis at all sites during an interval of modest climate change implies that human impact, not climate, was responsible.
AB - More than 85 percent of Australian terrestrial genera with a body mass exceeding 44 kilograms became extinct in the Late Pleistocene. Although most were marsupials, the list includes the large, flightless mihirung Genyornis newtoni. More than 700 dates on Genyornis eggshells from three different climate regions document the continuous presence of Genyornis from more than 100,000 years ago until their sudden disappearance 50,000 years ago, about the same time that humans arrived in Australia. Simultaneous extinction of Genyornis at all sites during an interval of modest climate change implies that human impact, not climate, was responsible.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0033534411&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1126/science.283.5399.205
DO - 10.1126/science.283.5399.205
M3 - Article
SN - 0036-8075
VL - 283
SP - 205
EP - 208
JO - Science
JF - Science
IS - 5399
ER -