Australian Megafauna
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There are an enormous variety of of , with many of their familiar descendants or relatives known to us today. Spanning multiple kingdoms, whether , monotreme, , or bird, was found across the , until roughly 10,000 years ago. Some of the more notable, or impressive include:
Diprotodon
The largest of ‘s known , the diprotodon is a relative of modern day wombats and koalas, being a quadrupedal weighing up to 3,000 kilograms and standing 2m tall at the shoulder. Diprotodon was a herbivorous grazing , with few natural predators due to its enormous size. It is thought that the diprotodon is one possible candidate for the aboriginal legend of the ‘bunyip‘, with its bones often being identified as such, and sharing a number of characteristics with the legend. Diprotodon went extinct roughly 44,000 years ago, though given some accounts of Aboriginal habitation go back as far as 120,000 years, even a conservative estimate points to this as a real possibility.
Otherwise known as the , this carnivorous was ‘s largest meat eating mammal, it grew to about a metre and a half long, and weighed roughly 160kg, similar to a mature female lion or tiger. Despite being colloquially known as a ‘lion’, this creature was more closely related to today’s wombats and koalas, and sported a unique physiology that helped it take down its prey. The is unique amongst marsupials in its physiology, featuring retractable claws, a semi opposable thumb with gigantic hooked claws, a short stout nose, and fused plate-like teeth for cutting and tearing. This suggests that the likely took down its prey, such as the or , by hooking up, and climbing up their bodies, before killing them with the most powerful bite-force per square inch of any mammal, living or extinct.
Procoptodon Goliah
When in comes to , procoptodon goliah, or the , is one of the better known. Standing, just over 2m tall, and weighing as much as 240kg, this enormous shared much in common with its smaller cousin today, though there are a number of key physiological differences. Unlike its modern relatives, these giant kangaroos had far shorter snouts, featuring a far more compressed jaw common to other members of the . It also had far longer arms than modern kangaroos, likely used for grasping branches, as well as a single large fused toe. Though this stood at a similar height to a large modern red , it was much sturdier and powerful in build, being about 2 and a half times as heavy as its modern counterpart.
Megalania
Aside from ‘s , there were a number of that were also found during this era. Of these, the largest was megalania, an enormous goanna that served as the apex predator of its time. Found across , megalania was akin to a or goanna in appearance, though much larger and deadlier, being fast, huge, and with a powerful, venomous bite. Megalania was the largest of ‘s , growing up to 7 metres in length, and weighing as much as 1,940 kg, though these measures have been disputed due to varying finds and estimates. Regardless of exactly how large it was, it is likely that Megalania was the apex predator of its time, with evidence noting teeth marks on the bones of a number of . Though megalania went extinct about 50,000 years ago it is likely early aboriginal Australians could’ve encountered some of these terrifying lizards, though as time progressed, they, like many other dwindled and eventually disappeared.
Genyornis
A huge , the genyornis was the last of the great ‘thunder birds’ endemic to . Standing at a height of 2 metres, and weighing about 240 kilograms, this bird was the largest of its time, as well as the last of its genetic family, with its ancestors such as the late Miocene Dromornis stirtoni, growing even larger and heavier. Unlike other large Australian birds such as the emu and cassowary, the genyornis actually shares its ancestry with birds such as geese or ducks, albeit at quite the distance. It is thought that despite its enormous size, and powerful crushing beak, the genyornis and its ancestors were actually herbivorous grazers, with their size allowing them to range across huge distances, much like the modern emu. Genyornis also shared the with aboriginal Australians for tens of thousands of years, with depictions found in cave, and rock art dating back tens of thousands of years.
and
The timing of on the is a hotly contested topic, with some estimates dating around 60,000 years ago, though as more information and modern dating techniques have come to light, this figure has risen as high as 120,000 years, making it the longest continual civilization on the planet. It is thought that ‘s arrived on the via , before spreading out across to rather rapidly, including into ‘s interior. Even with a conservative estimate of 60,000 years ago, this period overlaps considerably with the existence of a large number of , including all those listed in this article, and when the possible 120,000 year figure is taken into account, the capacity for human engagement in the ancient Australian ecosystem has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of our ancient natural heritage. Evidence of this crossover period can be seen in numerous rock art depictions from across , such as the Gwion Gwion rock paintings in the Kimberley, which depict images of the , or other in Kakadu showing the genyoris. Despite human interaction being a major cause of in the northern hemisphere, the case in is a more complex story.
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While the of across much of the globe was symptomatic of wider trends in global ecosystems around the , with an of being one of the more noticeable trends. In the case of , it was a number of long, and mid term factors that eventually saw the end of the era. While could have possibly contributed to this trend, both through direct hunting, as well as competition for resources, population estimates at this early point in history were far too low to effect broader ecosystem change on a large enough scale to be the primary cause. Instead, it is argued that was likely the cause, rather than human activity, or a single . was a continual trend since the mid-, with a period of extreme temperature variation, and intermittent ice ages causing dramatic changes in the natural biosphere. The last, and most extreme of these events occurred 21,000 years ago, even pushing human habitation to just 20% if its previous extent. The lack of access to resources, combined with this shock, was likely the final nail in the coffin for many of ‘s largest creatures, with the fragile balance barely maintained for hundreds of thousands of years cascading beyond the capabilities of many larger to adapt, or venture further for nutrition. Following this environmental turmoil, the introduction of foreign , such as the dingo, also had major repercussion for native Australian wildlife, with carnivores such as the thylacine or Tasmanian devil unable to compete, only surviving on the island of Tasmania. This wave of native Australian has been further accelerated since the arrival of Europeans to the island continent just over 200 years ago, with many of ‘s small and medium native marsupials under threat.
