A new study reveals that prehistoric kangaroos in southern Australia were more adaptable eaters than previously thought, suggesting their dietary flexibility played a role in their survival and resilience to climate change. This research challenges the notion that specialized diets led to the extinction of these megafauna during the Pleistocene epoch.
A new study has revealed that prehistoric kangaroos in southern Australia had a more diverse diet than previously thought, challenging existing assumptions about their survival, resilience to climate change , and the ultimate extinction of megafauna.
The research, a collaboration between palaeontologists from Flinders University and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), employed advanced dental analysis techniques to examine microscopic wear patterns on fossilized kangaroo teeth. These findings suggest that many kangaroo species were generalists, capable of adapting to a variety of food sources in response to environmental shifts. The study focused on fossil kangaroo species from the Victoria Fossil Cave at the Naracoorte Caves World Heritage Area in South Australia. This site is renowned for holding the richest and most diverse deposit of Pleistocene (2.6 million to 12,000 years ago) kangaroo fossils. The researchers' findings directly contradict the long-held belief that species unable to survive past 40,000 years ago perished due to specialized diets. Instead, they discovered that most species were mixed feeders, consuming a combination of shrubs and grasses. This dietary flexibility, according to lead researcher Dr. Sam Arman from MAGNT and Flinders University, likely contributed significantly to their resilience during past climatic changes. 'Our study shows that most prehistoric kangaroos at Naracoorte had broad diets. This dietary flexibility likely played a key role in their resilience during past changes in climate,' Dr. Arman explains.To reach these conclusions, the team utilized Dental Microwear Texture Analysis, comparing the diets of 12 extinct species with those of 17 modern species. Professor Gavin Prideaux from Flinders University, a co-author of the study, sheds light on the previous misconception surrounding the short-faced kangaroos (sthenurines). 'The distinctive short-faced kangaroo anatomy led to a widespread view that sthenurines were unable to adapt their diets when climate change altered vegetation patterns, leading to their extinction,' he states. 'By shedding light on the ecological roles of Australia's marsupial megafauna, we will develop a better understanding of how its modern ecosystems evolved. Among other things, this might help to contextualise why Australia has been so vulnerable to introduced large mammals, such as pigs, camels, deer and horses.' The researchers acknowledge that while diet may have played a role in extinction, other factors, such as body size, locomotion, and the arrival of humans, likely contributed as well. Grant Gully, Flinders Palaeontology Lab manager and curator, emphasizes the significance of this research. 'This allowed us to capture the degree to which diets vary between individuals and regions for modern species, and then use this as a basis for investigating diets of fossil species through time.
Prehistoric Kangaroos Diet Climate Change Extinction Megafauna Australia Naracoorte Caves
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