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Other Megafauna

What is unique about Austrealian megafauna? compare the australian megafauna with that of other continents.
At the end of the last ice age, Australia's climate changed from cold-dry to warm-dry. As a result, surface water became scarce. Most of the lakes became completely dry or dry in the warmer seasons. Most large, browsing animals lost their habitat and retreated to a narrow band in eastern Australia, where there was permanent water and better vegetation. The diprotodon, one of Australia's megafauna, may have survived on the Liverpool Plains of New South Wales until about 7000 years ago. If people have been in Australia for up to 60 000 years, then megafauna must have co-existed with humans for at least 30 000 years. Regularly hunted modern kangaroos survived not only 10 000 years of Aboriginal hunting, but also an onslaught of commercial shooters. 
In North America, megafauna extinction happened simultaneously with the replacement of the vast icy tundra by an immense area of forest. Glacial species, such as mammoths and woolly rhinocerous, were replaced by animals better adapted to forests, such as elk, deer and pigs. This all happened about 10 000 years ago, despite the fact that humans colonised North America less than 15 000 years ago.

Explain why the australian megafauna was significantly different to that found on other countries.

The animals that used to walk between the different parts of Gondwana became trapped on the separate continental pieces. As distances between land increased and oceans formed between them animals were no longer able to mix. One of the last land connections Australia had with Gondwana was with Antarctica and South America. Today some groups of birds in South America look like some from Australia and there is an otter like creature in South America that has some similarities to the platypus.

As Australia 'drifted' north over millions of years its climate changed and its animals and plants changed with it. By 45 million years ago Australia was on its own. Its animals and birds then developed in different ways from animals and birds elsewhere in the world.

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