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The Late Pleistocene to the beginning of the Holocene saw the extinction of the majority of the world's megafauna (typically defined as animal species having body masses over 44 kilograms (97 lb)), [1] which resulted in a collapse in faunal density and diversity across the globe. [2] The extinctions during the Late Pleistocene are ...
Megafauna. In zoology, megafauna (from Greek μέγας megas "large" and Neo-Latin fauna "animal life") are large animals. The precise definition of the term varies widely, though a common threshold is approximately 45 kilograms (99 lb), with other thresholds as low as 10 kilograms (22 lb) or as high as 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb).
The term Australian megafauna refers to the megafauna in Australia [1] during the Pleistocene Epoch. Most of these species became extinct during the latter half of the Pleistocene, and the roles of human and climatic factors in their extinction are contested. There are similarities between the prehistoric Australian megafauna and some mythical ...
Megalania (Varanus priscus) is an extinct species of giant monitor lizard, [1] part of the megafaunal assemblage that inhabited Australia during the Pleistocene. It is the largest terrestrial lizard known to have existed, but the fragmentary nature of known remains make estimates highly uncertain. Recent studies suggest that most known ...
Genyornis. Genyornis newtoni, also known as the Newton's mihirung, Newton's thunder bird or mihirung paringmal (meaning "giant bird" in Tjapwuring), is an extinct species of large, flightless bird that lived in Australia during the Pleistocene Epoch until around 50,000 years ago. Over two metres in height, they were likely herbivorous. [2]
Dromornithidae, known as mihirungs (after Tjapwuring Mihirung paringmal, "giant bird") and informally as thunder birds or demon ducks, were a clade of large, flightless Australian birds of the Oligocene through Pleistocene epochs. All are now extinct. They were long classified in Struthioniformes (the ratites), but are now usually classified as ...
Thylacoleo ("pouch lion") is an extinct genus of carnivorous marsupials that lived in Australia from the late Pliocene to the Late Pleistocene (until around 40,000 years ago), often known as marsupial lions. They were the largest and last members of the family Thylacoleonidae, occupying the position of apex predator within Australian ecosystems ...
They concluded that the declines of megafauna are of mixed causes and that the extinction processes and causes therefore vary by individual taxon and region. [174] Of note is that there is a recorded latest survival of the American mastodon in the early Holocene. The Overmyer Mastodon individual, recovered from northern Indiana with 41-48% ...