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SUMMARY:Palaeoecological Insights into the Causes and Consequences of Mid-
 Late Quaternary Megafauna Extinction in Asia and Australia - Simon Haberle
 \, Australian National University
DTSTART:20240612T163000Z
DTEND:20240612T180000Z
UID:TALK211825@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Jinheum Park
DESCRIPTION:Mid-Late Quaternary megafauna extinctions have long intrigued 
 researchers seeking to understand the causes and consequences of these sig
 nificant ecological events. What role did fluctuations in climate\, shifts
  in vegetation composition\, alterations in habitat distribution\, and the
  impact of human settlement play in megafauna extinction? One way to help 
 us better understand the role of environmental change in the extinction pr
 ocess is to use palaeoecological techniques (pollen\, spore and charcoal a
 nalysis) combined with well resolved geochronological estimates to reconst
 ruct palaeoenvironmental conditions that occur before\, during\, and after
  past megafauna extinctions. Here I present two palaeoecological case stud
 ies that provide insights into megafauna extinction in Asia and Australia:
  (i) the largest ever primate and one of the largest of the southeast Asia
 n megafauna\, Gigantopithecus blacki\, that persisted in China from about 
 2.0 million years until the late middle Pleistocene when it became extin
 ct\, well before the appearance of Homo sapiens on the landscape\, and (ii
 ) the multiple extinctions of megafauna that occurred across Australia aro
 und 50\,000-40\,000 years ago that coincide with a time when people were p
 resent across the Australian landscape. This presentation underscores the 
 importance of interdisciplinary approaches integrating palaeoecological\, 
 geochronological\, archaeological\, and climatological perspectives to unr
 avel the complexities of past megafauna extinctions and inform strategies 
 for mitigating future biodiversity crises.
LOCATION:Small Lecture Theatre\, Department of Geography\, Downing Site
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