Fire, another reason for the extinction of the great animals of Australia
2005/09/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria
According to experts at the University of Colorado, several large Australian animals have disappeared due to man-made fires.
It seems that 45-50 thousand years ago, when man arrived in Australia, many animal species disappeared. Well, one of the factors that can influence is the fact that the human being has caused fires and, consequently, has changed the vegetation, since the animals of the time have seen change their diet.
Egg shells, emua (Dromaius novaehollandiae) and another similar bird (extinct Genyornis newtoni) have been used to analyze the diet of animals. And they have seen that the female went from eating nutritious herbs to eating shrubs, which adapted to the new ecosystem, while G. newtoni barely changed her diet, so it would have disappeared.
