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Would the Australian megafauna have become extinct if humans had never colonised the continent? Comments on A review of the evidence for a human role in the extinction of Australian megafauna and an alternative explanation by S. Wroe and J. Field
Citation
Brook, BW and Bowman, DMJS and Burney, DA and Flannery, TF and Gagan, MK and Gillespie, R and Johnson, CN and Kershaw, P and Magee, JW and Martin, PS and Miller, GH and Peiser, B and Roberts, RG, Would the Australian megafauna have become extinct if humans had never colonised the continent? Comments on 'A review of the evidence for a human role in the extinction of Australian megafauna and an alternative explanation' by S. Wroe and J. Field , Quaternary Science Reviews, 26, (3-4) pp. 560-564. ISSN 0277-3791 (2007) [Contribution to Refereed Journal]
DOI: doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2006.10.008
Abstract
A critical comment on 'A review of the evidence for a human role in the extinction of Australian megafauna and an alternative explanation' by S. Wroe and J. Field is presented. The authors have highlighted a range of ideas under consideration, and provided a selective interpretation which does not come to terms with biology and ignores or misinterprets current evidence. They rely heavily on the ages reported by Roberts et al. (2001) to argue for a gradual attenuation of the megafauna. They propose a staggered series of extinctions throughout the Middle and Late Pleistocene, with many taxa lost during the Penultimate Glacial Maximum (PGM) 140 130 ka, and relatively few species persisting. They ignore measurement uncertainties associated with the ages, which, when properly considered, means that 20, rather than eight of the species they list have last appearance ages consistent with Ě45 ka.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Contribution to Refereed Journal |
|---|---|
| Research Division: | Environmental Sciences |
| Research Group: | Environmental Science and Management |
| Research Field: | Conservation and Biodiversity |
| Objective Division: | Environment |
| Objective Group: | Climate and Climate Change |
| Objective Field: | Climate and Climate Change not elsewhere classified |
| UTAS Author: | Bowman, DMJS (Professor David Bowman) |
| ID Code: | 69287 |
| Year Published: | 2007 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 49 |
| Deposited By: | Plant Science |
| Deposited On: | 2011-04-19 |
| Last Modified: | 2011-06-20 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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