News Paleontology

Humans, not climate change, may have wiped out Australia’s giant kangaroos

Fossilized kangaroo teeth hint at varied diets, helping the animals weather climatic changes

An artist's drawing of the extinct kangaroo S. occidentalis.

Simothenurus occidentalis (illustrated) was one of dozens of kangaroo species that went extinct by 40,000 years ago.

Nobu Tamura (CC BY 3.0)

By Carolyn Gramling

The demise of most of Australia’s kangaroo species by 40,000 years ago may have had less to do with climate-caused dietary pressures and more to do with human hunters.