Wildlife
The controversial history of the marsupial lion
Marsupial lions lived on the Australian continent from about 24 million years ago up until the end of the Pleistocene era, about 30,000 years ago.
Marsupial lions lived on the Australian continent from about 24 million years ago up until the end of the Pleistocene era, about 30,000 years ago.
The banded-hare wallaby is making a historic return to the Australian mainland after completely disappearing more than century ago due to predation by foxes and feral cats.
A flightless, plant-eating bird, mihirungs weighed 250kg and lived in the late Oligocene to the early Miocene, about 33 to 20 million years ago.
This ancient marsupial was a gigantic beast that roamed across Eastern Australia.
Researchers say that Kangaroo Island was a hotspot for ancient megafauna.
Some Australian fruits are called ‘megafauna fruits’ because the only animals capable of eating them and spreading the seeds are extinct.
What killed Australia’s megafauna? A new study has weighed in on the old debate and pointed the finger at humans to blame – but scientists remain at odds on the controversial issue.
The extinction of the giant reptiles, marsupials and birds that once called Australia home has been the subject of much debate, including the role early Australians may have had on their fate.
ASIDE FROM THE blue whale, which is thought to be the largest animal that has ever lived, many of today’s creatures are mere pygmies compared with what came before them in Earth’s prehistoric past. Australia’s first human inhabitants would have come face to face with some, such as Diprotodon, Megalania and Thylacoleo.
New evidence has revealed climate change played a key role in the extinction of ancient megafauna, with human impact “tipping them over the edge”.