Corridors to Extinction and the Australian Megafauna

It is a commonly held belief that the megafauna extinctions were caused by humans. Extinctions such as the Moa, Steller’s Sea Cow, the Dodo, Great Auk and countless other species great and small, all attributed to human agency. Therefore, the megafauna were humans’ first great impact on the planet. There is now an increasing realization that the ‘blitzkrieg’ view of these extinctions may have been wrong. A growing body of evidence and long-term field work is beginning to show that at least Australia’s megafauna did not succumb to human agency, not because humans probably did not hunt the odd animal but because of the climatic conditions of the Quaternary Ice Ages and the affect they had on continental geography, environment, climate and, most importantly, the biogeography of the megafauna. This book presents the evidence of this theory, demonstrating the biogeographic approach to Australia’s megafauna extinction. It is written clearly to benefit a diverse level of readers, from those with a passing interest to professionals in the field. It examines future climate change and its effects on the planet by looking at examples buried in the past. It presents new evidence from extensive field research.