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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Humans Caused Australia's Ice Age Extinctions, Tooth Study Says


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The first known complete skeleton of an ancient marsupial lion dubbed Thylacoleo carnifex was found in 2002 in caves in Australia's Nullarbor Plain.

Now the first analysis of fossil teeth from ancient kangaroos and a giant wombat also found in the caves suggests that the region's large Ice Age animals were driven extinct by humans, not climate change, scientists report.

Photograph courtesy Clay Bryce, Western Australian Museum