Giant like Kangaroos Go Extinct in Tasmania
posted in Animal Species |Humans are responsible for the extinction of giant like kangaroos and other huge marsupials in Tasmania about 40,000 years back. Hunting carried out on the Australian island resulted in the extermination of many prehistoric animals, which include kangaroo like beasts, leopard type cats and marsupial “hippopotamuses according to scientists.
The giant type kangaroo known as Protemnon anak, which is leaf browser with a long neck, existed on Tasmania until at least 41,000 years ago. This is was much later than believed and 2,000 years later after the first human settlers arrived. This is evident based upon the new radiocarbon and luminescence dating of fossils, some having been accidentally found by cavers.
Earlier studies showed that the giant beasts of Tasmania had disappeared when humans had access to land bridge that was temporary, providing entry to the island almost 43,000 years ago.
The new findings shall appear this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Six other oversized prehistoric species in Tasmania survived the change in climate and may have existed till the arrival of the humans. Of course, the animals remains have not been specifically dated to a period when the humans were on the island. Around 90 percent of the Australian megafauna disappeared almost 46,000 years ago, immediately after the humans initially settled on the continent. Many more megafauna may be found on Tasmania.