Ancient extinction¹ of giant Australian bird points to humans The first direct evidence that humans played a substantial role in the extinction of the huge, wondrous² beasts inhabiting Australia some 50,000 years ago -- in this case a 500-pound bird -- has been discovered by a University of Colorado Boulder-led team. 

 

The flightless bird, known as Genyornis newtoni, was nearly 7 feet tall and appears to have lived in much of Australia prior to the establishment of humans on the continent 50,000 years ago, said CU-Boulder Professor Gifford Miller³. The evidence consists of diagnostic burn patterns on Genyornis eggshell fragments that indicate humans were collecting and cooking its eggs, thereby⁴ reducing the birds' reproductive success. 

 

"We consider this the first and only secure evidence that humans were directly preying⁵ on now-extinct Australian megafauna," said Miller, associate director of CU-Boulder's Institute of Arctic and Alpine⁶ Research. "We have documented these characteristically burned Genyornis eggshells at more than 200 sites across the continent."

 

A paper on the subject appears online Jan. 29, in Nature Communications.

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