References & Sources - January 9, 1999

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Ancient people sparked die-offs down under

By setting fires, humans may have killed off all the large Australian animals 50,000 years ago.

References:

Flannery, T.F. 1999. Debating extinction. Science 283(Jan. 8):182.

Miller, G.H., et al. 1999. Pleistocene extinction of Genyornis newtoni: Human impact on Australian megafauna. Science 283(Jan. 8):205.

Further Readings:

Bower, B. 1998. Australian site jumps forward in time. Science News 153(May 30):343.

Sources:

Timothy F. Flannery
Harvard University
Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
Museum of comparative Zoology
Cambridge, MA 02138

Paul S. Martin
University of Arizona
Department of Geosciences
Tucson, AZ 85721

Gifford H. Miller
University of Colorado
Department of Geological Sciences
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research
Center for Geochronical Research
Boulder, CO 80309-0450

From Science News, Vol. 155, No. 2, January 9, 1999, p. 21. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.

Copyright 1999 Science Service