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dc.contributor.authorWestaway, Michael C
dc.contributor.authorOlley, Jon
dc.contributor.authorGrun, Rainer
dc.date.accessioned2017-08-01T23:47:25Z
dc.date.available2017-08-01T23:47:25Z
dc.date.issued2017
dc.identifier.issn0277-3791
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.11.031
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/342971
dc.description.abstractIt has been argued that globally the extinction of many species of megafauna appears to coincide with the dispersal of modern humans, however, with the refinement of age ranges on megafauna specimens it has been revealed that many extinctions are in fact time-transgressive. This appears to be the case in Europe and Asia, and probably also the Americas. The argument over what mechanism was responsible for megafauna extinction in Australia, however, remains heavily contested. This contribution investigates the age of a single articulated megafauna specimen of Zygomaturus trilobus from the Willandra Lakes. The Willandra is unique in that it is the only Australian landscape with evidence for a) continual occupation by Aboriginal people from 50,000 years ago and b) the presence of megafauna. As people have occupied the Willandra since the period of initial colonisation, establishing the age range of this specimen provides a good test to determine if people drove megafauna into extinction soon after their arrival, or whether megafauna and people co-existed for a long period of time. Two independent dating techniques show that the fossil has a maximum age range based on OSL of 33.3–36.7kya and a minimum age range based on U-series at 32.4 ± 0.5kya. This specimen represents the youngest example of extinct megafauna reliably dated in Australia. Regardless of whether one accepts a short (47.5kya) or long (55kya) chronology for Aboriginal occupation of Australia, it would now appear that the second largest marsupial to ever exist was still present for a considerable time after the first arrival of Aboriginal people.
dc.description.peerreviewedYes
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.relation.ispartofpagefrom206
dc.relation.ispartofpageto211
dc.relation.ispartofjournalQuaternary Science Reviews
dc.relation.ispartofvolume157
dc.subject.fieldofresearchEarth sciences
dc.subject.fieldofresearchOther earth sciences not elsewhere classified
dc.subject.fieldofresearchHistory, heritage and archaeology
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode37
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode379999
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode43
dc.titleAt least 17,000 years of coexistence: Modern humans and megafauna at the Willandra Lakes, South-Eastern Australia
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.descriptionC1 - Articles
dc.type.codeC - Journal Articles
gro.facultyGriffith Sciences, Griffith School of Environment
gro.hasfulltextNo Full Text
gro.griffith.authorOlley, Jon M.


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