Late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions in India: How much do we know?

Simultaneous extinction of Madagascar's megaherbivores correlates with late Holocene human-caused landscape transformation

“…However, there is substantial disparity in our understanding of the temporal dynamics of late Quaternary megafaunal biodiversity loss between different biogeographic regions (Stuart, 2015), and data on extinction timings and drivers are less robust for most tropical regions due to differing preservational conditions and less comprehensive direct dating programmes (Louys et al, 2007;Turvey et al, 2013Turvey et al, , 2021Cooke et al, 2017;Price et al, 2018).…”

Chronology of Fossiliferous Localities in Manjra Valley, District Latur, Maharashtra, India

“…The multispecies mammalian fauna in the Manjra valley is an admixture of megafauna that had either Ethiopian or Palaearctic origins as being the descendants of the Siwalik holdovers in the later part of the Pleistocene. However, of all the reported, there are eight genera (mostly artiodactyls) which are endemic to Indian subcontinent and appear to represent their wide home range throughout the Pleistocene (Turvey et al 2021). It has been argued that the southward migration of post-Siwalik fauna led to a mosaic of palaeo-communities that thrived throughout Peninsular India until the known episodes of dry and arid phase triggered by the LGM.…”

“…The Indian Peninsula has lost only 9 from a total of 114 modern taxa, namely hippopotamus, two species of elephants, and horse, to environmental change and alleged anthropogenic intervention at the end of the Pleistocene (Jukar et al 2021;Turvey et al 2021;Sathe 2022). The African continent, in comparison, showed 24 species and 3 genera disappearing as part of the Late Quaternary extinction window (Faith 2014).…”

“…The absence of direct dates on megafaunal fossil material also makes it difficult to assign precise dates for disappearance or extinction of many species especially in the context of Late Quaternary extinction in India (Turvey et al 2021).…”

Australian landscapes from Eocene to Anthropocene

“…Although the fifth great extinction preceded this period of the Earth's history there were several smaller extinction events throughout the whole period. Perhaps the most important (and clearly documented) such extinction for Australia was the demise of the megafauna around 40 ka -an event apparently repeated globally (Turvey et al 2021). The precise causes of this global demise are uncertain, but both sudden climate shifts and increasingly intense human-wildlife interactions have been implicated.…”