The poop of some of the ancient huge and astonishing creatures that once roamed Australia has indicated that the primary cause of their extinction was humans, not climate change
Representation pic
ADVERTISEMENT
Melbourne: The poop of some of the ancient huge and astonishing creatures that once roamed Australia has indicated that the primary cause of their extinction was humans, not climate change.
Led by Monash University in Victoria and University of Colorado Boulder, a team of researchers used details from a sediment core which had spores from a fungus, Sporormiella that thrived on the dung of plant-eating mammals.
"The sediment core allowed scientists to look back in time, in this case more than 1,50,000 years, spanning Earth's last full glacial cycle," said Miller.
The ocean sediment core showed the southwest is one of the few regions on the Australian continent that had dense forests both 45,000 years ago and today, making it a hotbed for biodiversity.
"Because of the density of trees and shrubs, it could have been one of their last holdouts some 45,000 years ago. There is no evidence of significant climate change during the time of the megafauna extinction," Miller noted, suggesting that the extinction may have been caused by 'imperceptible overkill.'
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
