Relative demographic susceptibility does not explain the extinction chronology of Sahul's megafauna.

ABSTRACT: The causes of Sahul's megafauna extinctions remain uncertain, although several interacting factors were likely responsible. To examine the relative support for hypotheses regarding plausible ecological mechanisms underlying these extinctions, we constructed the first stochastic, age-structured models for 13 extinct megafauna species from five functional/taxonomic groups, as well as 8 extant species within these groups for comparison. Perturbing specific demographic rates individually, we tested which species were more demographically susceptible to extinction, and then compared these relative sensitivities to the fossil-derived extinction chronology. Our models show that the macropodiformes were the least demographically susceptible to extinction, followed by carnivores, monotremes, vombat

SUBMITTER: Bradshaw CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8043753 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature