All language subtitles for Megafauna What Killed Australias Giants S01 E02_track4_[eng]

HUGH JACKMAN: Ice Age Australia,

home to giant and bizarre animals
known as megafauna.

Herds of wombat-like herbivores
roam vast grasslands...

..living alongside kangaroos
with strange short faces.

And ruling this land,
the apex predators...

..heavily armoured giant lizards

and a marsupial killing machine
armed with bone-crushing jaws.

These majestic animals lived here
for millions of years.

These majestic animals lived here
But in a blink of time...

But in a blink of time...

(ROARS)

..they were wiped
from the face of the earth.

So what happened?

Today, experts are gathering clues

from remote and inhospitable
parts of Australia.

There's been 12 people on the moon,
and 10 people in this cave.

This place is like nowhere else
in the world, really.

This place is like nowhere else
This is pretty bloody good.

This is pretty bloody good.

These scientists
are testing the leading theories

These scientists
behind this disappearance.

behind this disappearance.

Is this the smoking gun
behind this disappearance.

Is this the smoking gun
that explains

Is this the smoking gun
the megafaunal extinctions?

the megafaunal extinctions?

New evidence will rewrite
Australia's Ice Age cold case.

What killed Australia's giants?

The flooded sinkholes
dotting the landscape

of regional Mount Gambier,
in South Australia,
The flooded sinkholes
dotting the landscape

of regional Mount Gambier,
in South Australia,

of regional Mount Gambier,
are the keepers of secrets,

are the keepers of secrets,

are the keepers of secrets,
holding vital clues about an animal

holding vital clues about an animal

lost in one of the most mysterious
holding vital clues about an animal

lost in one of the most mysterious
extinction events

lost in one of the most mysterious
in Australia's prehistory.

in Australia's prehistory.

Yeah, look, it doesn't get too much
more extreme than this, I guess.

Yeah, look, it doesn't get too much
more extreme than this, I guess.
Palaeontologist Julien Louys

Palaeontologist Julien Louys

heads up a crack team
of palaeo sleuths

on a perilous expedition through the
underwater passages of Tank Cave.

Their mission is to gather evidence
of a once-mighty beast.

Joseph Monks is the dive team leader.

On record, there's probably only
about 10 people in the world
Joseph Monks is the dive team leader.

On record, there's probably only
about 10 people in the world

that have actually seen this area,

so more people have
actually been on the moon.

There's been 12 people on the moon
and 10 people in this cave.

All good?

Just make sure we're safe,
we look after each other.

JULIEN LOUYS: Safety first,
science second.

This unforgiving maze has already
claimed the lives of two divers.

This unforgiving maze has already
But for the scientists,

But for the scientists,

the chance to solve the riddle
But for the scientists,

the chance to solve the riddle
of the megafaunas' demise

the chance to solve the riddle
makes it a risk worth taking.

makes it a risk worth taking.

So, we're following the guide line

through these interconnected
So, we're following the guide line

through these interconnected
chambers and passages.

We're utterly reliant on
our torches and our light sources

to keep track of each other
and to keep safe in these caves.

After 90 minutes, they reach
a chamber called the Bone Room.

Beyond the threshold, a scene to set
any palaeontologist's heart racing.

An ancient treasure-trove
of megafauna remains.

These remains have not been touched

since the animals died
These remains have not been touched

since the animals died
and were deposited.

Exciting stuff.

But then
the most exciting find of all...

..an unmistakable upper tooth

of Australia's most deadly
ancient marsupial, Thylacoleo.

Emerging from her den,
Thylacoleo, the marsupial lion,

Emerging from her den,
is on the hunt for food.

is on the hunt for food.

Her strong limbs
are not designed to chase,

but razor-sharp claws
with a retractable thumb talon

but razor-sharp claws
are perfect for climbing trees

are perfect for climbing trees

and for gripping
are perfect for climbing trees

and for gripping
while she dismembers her prey.

The voracious carnivore stealthily
hoists her 130-kilo body...

..poised...

(GROWLS)

..ready for the kill.

(ROARS)

Thylacoleo was
the biggest marsupial predator

Thylacoleo was
ever to have lived in Australia.

ever to have lived in Australia.

But what kind of predator was it?

What did it eat
and what was its hunting strategy?

And just how powerful were those
jaws and terrifying teeth?

They're questions that intrigue
palaeontologist Aaron Camens

in his quest to understand why
such a fearsome animal disappeared.

This is an animal that is like
no other that has ever existed.

We have a look at its hands,
no other that has ever existed.

We have a look at its hands,

we can see that it's got
a big thumb with a claw.

we can see that it's got
a big thumb with a claw.
Our modern placental predators
don't have an opposable thumb,

Our modern placental predators
don't have an opposable thumb,

but Thylacoleo was actually
able to grasp its prey.

It's got forwards-pointing
eyes, like many predators,

so that it has good
depth perception.

It's got extremely strong
biting muscles

and a very heavily muscled
front half.

and a very heavily muscled
This is the kind of thing

This is the kind of thing

that we see in animals
This is the kind of thing

that we see in animals
that are ambush predators.

that we see in animals
If we have a look at its teeth,

If we have a look at its teeth,

we can see that it
doesn't have big canines

we can see that it
like bears or big cats or dogs.

like bears or big cats or dogs.

In fact, it's grabbing onto its
like bears or big cats or dogs.

In fact, it's grabbing onto its
prey, maybe with its front incisors,

but it's got these
big, long premolars

that essentially function like
secateurs, or bolt cutters,

to shear through bone and to
shear through flesh, as well.

But while studying
more than 18,000 bones,

Aaron has found some other
important pieces in the puzzle.

We've been searching through
collections of fossils

from South Australia, from
New South Wales, from Victoria,

in order to try to bring together
a collection of bones

that have been bite-marked
by Thylacoleo.

So, many of the bones that
we've got here are the heel bones

of long-faced macropodine kangaroos
that includes some extinct species,

but also the reds and greys
that are still alive today.

If we have a look at this bone here,

usually that would be a flat surface
at the bottom.

usually that would be a flat surface
This big V that we can see here

This big V that we can see here

is actually the result
This big V that we can see here

is actually the result
of a Thylacoleo premolar.

is actually the result
Now, here's a skull of Thylacoleo.

Now, here's a skull of Thylacoleo.

And if we have a look
at the jaw here,

And if we have a look
we can see that that heel bone mark

we can see that that heel bone mark

fits in very closely
we can see that that heel bone mark

fits in very closely
with the premolar of Thylacoleo.

What does this tell us about
Thylacoleo's hunting strategy?

It is probably chewing on the feet
of animals to incapacitate them.

There's not much meat on this bone,

and so the only reason that
there would be to bite it

is if you're trying
to incapacitate your prey.

But how much force would be needed
to produce such deep marks in bone?

To bring the monster to life,

Aaron's team
is creating a biomechanical model

Aaron's team
of its skull, teeth and jaws.

of its skull, teeth and jaws.

I'll just have to zoom out
a little bit,

just to get it in the field of view.

OK, here we go.

So, what we're looking to find out
is not how it bit,

but what kind of force was involved
in creating the marks that we know

Thylacoleo produced
on kangaroo bones.

Using CT scans
of partial Thylacoleo skulls,

the scientists can fashion
an accurate 3-D-printed replica

the scientists can fashion
for testing the bite force.

for testing the bite force.

Nylon mimics the firmness
and flexibility of bone,

and high-grade steel, similar
to the hardness of tooth enamel,

and high-grade steel, similar
is used for the teeth.

is used for the teeth.

OK, so, now we're mounting
the XY stage on the skull.

So, this is the real test
where we've got the whole dentition

that we're going to put
the kangaroo foot into.

And we're going to have a look
at how the whole skull reacts.

The kangaroo foot is X-rayed
for later comparison.

This is where the bite
is gonna happen.

So, I think we can
probably do 25-mil a minute.

Yeah.
OK.

To see if they can re-create the
bone injuries seen in the fossils,

To see if they can re-create the
the machine is set to bite down

the machine is set to bite down

with similar strength
the machine is set to bite down

with similar strength
to that of a tiger.

OK. Fit the foot in.

Alright.

Moment of truth.

Ready, set, go!

(BEEP!)

(BEEP!)

(CLICK!)

What was that?
(CLUNK!)

Everything still going?
We might have to stop.

(CLUNK!)
No.

So, the two mandibles
have split apart.

It's not broken, but it needs
regluing and remounting.

That's not something
that we can get done today.

It's an unfortunate setback,

but Aaron can continue the experiment
using just the premolars.

OK.

Alright, let's see
how this one goes.

Ready, set, go.

(BEEP!)

(CLICK!)

Crunch.

So, it reached my force limit -
four kilonewton.

Really?
Yeah.

Really?
Oh, wow.

Oh, wow.

So, yeah, this area in here
is where that has chomped in.

So, four kilonewtons and it's still
not even getting into the bone.

The test indicates that to create
the deep marks in the fossil bone,

Thylacoleo's bite force
might have been even greater

than that of a tiger.

To explore this further, a scientist
from Harvard University

has created a biomechanical
simulation of the jaw snapping shut,

including how the muscles work
to power the bite.

It suggests the biting force

could have been as high
as five kilonewtons,

more like an animal renowned
for the strength of their jaws -

the crocodile.

Thylacoleo was without doubt
a powerful and menacing carnivore.

So why didn't it survive?

Its primary diet of kangaroo, mainly
species still in existence today,

Its primary diet of kangaroo, mainly
means they had plenty of food.

means they had plenty of food.

Could it have been a new arrival
to the continent

Could it have been a new arrival
which caused its demise?

which caused its demise?

It's believed that humans migrated
to the Australian continent

It's believed that humans migrated
around 65,000 years ago.

around 65,000 years ago.

So what evidence do we have
of interactions, if any,
around 65,000 years ago.

So what evidence do we have
of interactions, if any,

between the Ice Age giants
and the first people?

If it didn't rain last night,
we could have driven across today.

If it didn't rain last night,
But, anyway, that's life, I suppose.

But, anyway, that's life, I suppose.

Kakadu National Park ranger
and traditional owner Jonathan Nadji

is hot on the trail.

Although the tropical soils
of the Northern Territory

are generally too acidic
for fossil bones to survive,

high above the flood plains,
the sandstone rock shelters of Ubirr

offer up something
even more precious.

So, this area here is basically
a special place for my family.

So, this area here is basically
a special place for my family.
This is where my grandmother
was born, and my father.

This is where my grandmother
was born, and my father.

This is where my grandmother
This area here was the main camp.

This area here was the main camp.

Pretty high, so they can get food,
gatherings and stuff like that.

Pretty high, so they can get food,
A lot of these paintings represent

A lot of these paintings represent

years and years
of living in this shelter.

So, whatever they caught,
they basically painted on the wall

to remind people that
that's what happened

to remind people that
previous years, and stuff like that.

previous years, and stuff like that.

So, most of them represent food.

Fish, wallabies, kangaroos, goannas,

longneck turtle, you name it.

But there's one painting that holds
the most intrigue for Jonathan.

This one here.

We've seen a lot of kangaroos
and wallabies painting,

but this one here
is completely different.

That real big one. See?

It takes a keen eye
to pick up the kangaroo

through the multiple
layers of images.

You see that emu, there?

That's where the head is.

And you can see the ears there.

It's got, like, spikes on him.

And another thing is the tail.

The tail is so thick at the end.

Never seen anything like that.

I don't know much about dinosaurs
and what they call them,

but there's one there
where it's short

and it's got a big, stumpy tail.

That's what that one looked
like at the end, you know.

It's completely different
to the other kangaroo painting.

Even the toes are different.

Looks like
it's only one toe sticking out,

where the other one, you got three.

See it?

So, I think
it's one of the big kangaroos.

Yeah, the giant one.

Very freaky to see.

Could this possibly be an eyewitness
account of the mighty Procoptodon?

More than 2,500km away in Brisbane,

More than 2,500km away in Brisbane,
palaeontologist Scott Hocknull
has some evidence

palaeontologist Scott Hocknull
has some evidence

that could shed more light
on the question.

This artwork is intriguing

because the assumption would be that
any big kangaroo painted in artwork
This artwork is intriguing

because the assumption would be that
any big kangaroo painted in artwork

might be from Procoptodon,
the giant sthenurine kangaroo.

But, in fact,
when you look at the painting,

a lot of the front part
of the snout is missing.

So maybe it had a little bit
of a longer face,

potentially a pointed snout.

Maybe this is the animal
that's been discovered

Maybe this is the animal
at South Walker Creek.

at South Walker Creek.

In 2009, a dig team
at South Walker Creek,

In 2009, a dig team
near Mackay in Queensland,

near Mackay in Queensland,

found the resting place of at least
13 extinct species of megafauna,
near Mackay in Queensland,

found the resting place of at least
13 extinct species of megafauna,

found the resting place of at least
13 extinct species of megafauna,
kangaroo from the Macropus family.

including a type of giant long-faced
kangaroo from the Macropus family.

This extinct species of kangaroo

may well match the paintings
that are in Kakadu.

It's very hard to tell for sure

because we don't have all of
the skeleton of the fossil animal,

so we don't know
how big its head was

or what the shape
of the face was like.

But what we do have
are its hind limbs.

But what we do have
And in the painting,

And in the painting,

the most interesting part of the
whole painting, from my perspective,

are the singular claws.

They're very long and thin
are the singular claws.

They're very long and thin
and very straight.

They're very long and thin
Now, that's something very similar

Now, that's something very similar

to what we find
in the actual fossil itself.

Now, it's not complete.

It would actually...the whole fossil
would be about this long.

And over the top of that
would have been

the actual sheath
of the claw itself.

So, we're talking about
a dagger-like claw

So, we're talking about
that's around 15cm long.

that's around 15cm long.

That's exactly what the artist
has reconstructed in the painting.

When we look at the tibia,

the shinbone of this
gigantic extinct Macropus,

the shinbone of this
it's very long and gracile,

it's very long and gracile,

and that's the sort of proportions
that I would have expected,

and that's what I see
in the illustration.

So that's really exciting.

Was it Procoptodon,
the short-faced kangaroo? Maybe.

Was it Procoptodon,
But there's no fossil evidence

But there's no fossil evidence

to suggest that Procoptodon
was living in the tropics.

But this one was,
the giant Macropus.

So, look, the debate
is going to rage for years,

because who's going to know
for sure?

What we do know is there was
an overlap of more than 20,000 years

between the arrival of humans
and the disappearance of megafauna.

At the end of the day,
the painting basically tells us

that they were here
and they used to live here.

We share the same time.

We just have to basically,
I suppose, you know,

scientists and Indigenous people sit
down together and talk about it

and, you know, find out
what really happened.

Aboriginal people are the people
to interpret their past.

But it's exciting to me
as a palaeontologist to see

that this artwork could well
be represented by the fossils

that have been discovered
at South Walker Creek.

And that's exciting,
because what that does

is it connects
both culture and science

in a storytelling
about Australia's past,

when these gigantic animals
roamed our world.

But did megafauna coexist
peacefully with humans...

..when some
were truly fearsome creatures?

The rolling sea
of grasslands and farms

The rolling sea
of Queensland's Darling Downs

of Queensland's Darling Downs

is a very different place
to 50,000 years ago.

Now only the rich black soil
bears witness to the ancient beasts

Now only the rich black soil
that once roamed the land.

that once roamed the land.

Oh, wow.

Jeez, you've got some
eagle eyes, Ian.

Jeez, you've got some
Sometimes you get lucky.

Sometimes you get lucky.

OK, let's have a go,
Sometimes you get lucky.

OK, let's have a go,
see what we can find.

Amateur palaeontologist Ian Sobbe
has scoured this channel for fossils

for almost 50 years.

Have a look, see what you reckon.

Big kangaroo again.
Yeah.

The last 20, he's collaborated
with palaeontologist Gilbert Price,

trying to piece together the story
of megafauna in this area.

It'll need to be a lot cleaner
before we can tell.

This nondescript-looking site
has been a rich vein

This nondescript-looking site
for fossil records since the 1840s.

for fossil records since the 1840s.

The sediments that we have around us
here were deposited many years ago,

The sediments that we have around us
100,000 years, 120,000 years,

100,000 years, 120,000 years,

something like that,
in that time frame.

something like that,
in that time frame.
And what we've got today
is a modern creek channel

And what we've got today
is a modern creek channel

that has cut back down through
those ancient palaeo channels,

as we call them,
exposing bone and fossil shells

and a whole bunch
of things like that.

And just behind us there now
is a couple of areas

where we found some really good
Megalania over the years.

This is Megalania.

Megalania is a world record breaker

for being the largest land lizard
that ever existed.

It was an absolute massive killing
machine of Australia's ice ages,

and one of the apex predators
in the time of the Pleistocene.

Megalania stomps
from its forest lair.

Almost six metres long
and broad-chested,

Megalania's size and strength means
almost any animal was potential prey.

(HISSES)

It's mating season, and another male
(HISSES)

It's mating season, and another male
has trespassed into his territory.

It's mating season, and another male
(HISSES)

(HISSES)

The two males size each other up.

(SCREECHES)

Neither backs down.

(SCREECHES)

By understanding the traits
and behaviours

of these extinct giant beasts,

scientists can work out
the everyday threats they faced

and what might have caused
their demise.

Such an impressive collection.

I mean, this must be
the Megalania kind of graveyard

for all of
the Australian continent, so...

Ian has made some of the most
important Megalania discoveries

in the region.

He's catalogued
more than 700 fossils.

35 of them are the bones
of the giant reptile.

Well, I don't think there's
anything else quite like it.
35 of them are the bones
of the giant reptile.

Well, I don't think there's
anything else quite like it.

Well, I don't think there's
anything else quite like it.
The interesting part is
there now seems to be research

The interesting part is
there now seems to be research

that's indicating that all of these
animals evolved in Australia

and then moved to South-East Asia,
as opposed to the traditional view

which had them moving
in the opposite direction.

So, Australia appears
to be the breeding ground

of these very large animals.

So, they are really, truly,
uniquely an Australian beast.

I just got some comparative stuff
for Megalania

I just got some comparative stuff
just with a local goanna.

just with a local goanna.

I just thought it might be
interesting to try and show

I just thought it might be
the size difference that we've got.

the size difference that we've got.

Bloody hell, THAT'S insane.
Yeah.

Just really highlights the absolute
size difference of these vertebra,

just how massive these beasts were.

Wow.

I bet you'd give your firstborn to
find a bit more of this beast too.

You would, you would.

This is one of the two frontal bones

that I managed to find
quite some years ago now.

But, interestingly,
it's got this heavy crest

across the top of the skull,

which doesn't show up
in any of the modern goannas.

The skull is quite flat
in that area.

The skull is quite flat
It's so different.

It's so different.

We really don't know
It's so different.

We really don't know
why that occurs.

Whether it's
the sexual dimorphic thing,

Whether it's
only in males, you know.

only in males, you know.

If they did any headbutting

as part of the mating routine,
and all that sort of thing,

as part of the mating routine,
they may have needed that.

they may have needed that.

So many mysteries, I guess,
with things like Big Meg here.

Exactly. We just plain
don't have enough material.

We need people to go out there
and find some more of them.

We need people to go out there
Yeah, yeah, for sure, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, for sure, yeah.

So, what other clues

can Megalania's closest relative
provide us with today?

Komodo dragons
are actually venomous,

which most people
don't even realise.

And if you have a look
at the tooth of Komodo dragon,

you can see that it's got
these kind of channels

that come down through the side
of the tooth itself.

And that's probably
maybe the equivalent

to, like, a fang of a snake itself,
so for injecting the venom.

Now, as it turns out, Megalania
is nestled into that little corner

of the family tree that includes
things like Komodo dragons

of the family tree that includes
and other venomous goannas.

and other venomous goannas.

Because of that, by indication,
it means that Megalania

must have been venomous, which is
a really mind-blowing discovery.

That's probably the biggest
tooth that I've got,

That's probably the biggest
even though the tip's broken.

even though the tip's broken.

There's a modern goanna, again.
Mmm, wow.

There's a modern goanna, again.
Yeah, just amazing how big they are.

Yeah, just amazing how big they are.

And those grooves
Yeah, just amazing how big they are.

And those grooves
are incredible, aren't they?

Incredible.
Built for killing.

Something we do know is Megalania
was just one in a gang

of armed and dangerous beasts.

But were they animals to be hunted
or avoided by humans?

When we piece together
Ice Age Australia,

when the first people arrive,

we have reptiles and mammals

that had evolved in isolation
for tens of millions of years.

They had unbelievable weaponry
and amazing defence systems.

So just imagine what
that would have been like

to encounter these animals
for the first time.

We're talking about predators
that were armed to the teeth,

and these teeth
were honed and evolved

for very specific purposes.

They were either grip and rip
or they were bite and slice.

The method favoured
by the giant crocodile family

The method favoured
was your classic blunt force trauma.

was your classic blunt force trauma.

Here we have this massive tooth
from a grip-and-rip predator.

So, this is a gigantic
freshwater crocodile.

We know what they ate because here
we have a bone of one of its prey,

the giant kangaroo,
with the telltale signs,

the puncture marks that were made
during an attack.

So, their teeth
were used to bite into prey,

So, their teeth
hold on fast and rip out big chunks.

hold on fast and rip out big chunks.

So, we move from the puncturing
teeth to the bite-and-slice teeth,

So, we move from the puncturing
and this is Megalania.

and this is Megalania.

Now, the tooth itself
was very small,

but they had about 70 of these
in their whole jaw.

When you look it up very close
under the microscope,

When you look it up very close
you can see these serrations.

you can see these serrations.

And that's like
a little steak knife.

Imagine 70 steak knives all slicing
through flesh all at the same time.

This would create an amazing amount
of blood loss, and instant death.

The people arriving on the continent

just wouldn't have experienced
The people arriving on the continent

just wouldn't have experienced
anything like this before.

just wouldn't have experienced
(ROARS)

(ROARS)

It just boggles the mind
how you would have potentially

perceived these animals and how
you would have responded to them.

But were these terrifying
giants hunted for food?

Whether people had an
interaction with megafauna

that was deleterious to them,
we don't know for sure,

because there's very little,
if almost no evidence

of actual butchery on megafauna
bones that we can see.

GILBERT PRICE: One thing I would be
super shocked about, though,

is that if humans
didn't hunt megafauna.

Like, if it was me on an environment
that was new and difficult to live,

and I saw a giant
lumbering wombat, or a diprotodon,

or a big, slow kangaroo
bounding past me,

I would think, "OK, well,
let's go and take advantage

I would think, "OK, well,
"of this opportunity."

"of this opportunity."

So, it's hard to know.

At least in terms of megafauna
in Australia,

At least in terms of megafauna
there's no evidence of that.

there's no evidence of that.

But you don't have to travel far

to find evidence that megafauna
were on a human hit list.
But you don't have to travel far

to find evidence that megafauna
were on a human hit list.

Here we've got
some of the larger whale remains.

This is a jaw of a blue whale,
and of a fin whale.

They're the two biggest
whale species in the world.

Alan Tennyson is the curator
of vertebrates at Te Papa Tongarewa.

There's some pretty amazing stuff
in this room.
Alan Tennyson is the curator
of vertebrates at Te Papa Tongarewa.

There's some pretty amazing stuff
in this room.

There's some pretty amazing stuff
But my speciality is birds.

But my speciality is birds.

But my speciality is birds.
And the bird bones are stored
around the corner here.

And the bird bones are stored
around the corner here.

So, this is the largest leg bone
of the largest species of moa -

the South Island giant moa,
Dinornis robustus.

As you can see,
it's absolutely enormous.

I mean, that's as large
as a cow bone.

I mean, that's as large
They weighed maybe up to 250kg.

They weighed maybe up to 250kg.

They would have stood up to about
two metres at their backs,

and then they had a curvy neck

so they could have reached up
higher than that.

So, they would have been
very impressive birds in life.

This particular animal
is about 3,000 years old.

That's a relatively typical age
for moa bones that are found.

Most of them are only -
only, I say -

a few thousand years old,

commonly found from one end of
the country to the other,

commonly found from one end of
even to this day.

even to this day.

But despite the imposing size
of the flightless bird,

their numbers plummeted after the
Polynesian settlement of New Zealand

just 700 years ago.

Humans did have quite a big effect
on the environment.

Moa and other large birds
were a great food source.

Moa are thought to be
very slow breeders,

they took several years
before they grew into adult size,

they took several years
which is unusual among birds,

which is unusual among birds,

and then they probably laid
no more than one or two eggs a year.

And of course, only some
of those would have hatched

and the chicks successfully
grown up to be adults.

So, it took a long time for moa
to raise their young

So, it took a long time for moa
and replace themselves,

and replace themselves,

which meant they were particularly
and replace themselves,

which meant they were particularly
vulnerable to overhunting.

And the effects of that,
unfortunately,

were that moa become extinct.

New Zealand is a perfect lab

when it comes to putting humans' role
in extinctions under the microscope.

It was the last major landmass
on the planet settled by people.

Before that, animals
survived climate changes

Before that, animals
for millions of years.

for millions of years.

There's reasonable agreement now
that people settled this country

There's reasonable agreement now
at the end of the 1200s,

at the end of the 1200s,

and large birds like moa were gone
within 100 or 200 years of that.

WOMAN: They're still in really good
condition, aren't they?

WOMAN: They're still in really good
Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, like, for being
3,000 years old, and...

For archaeologist Amber Aranui,

all evidence points
in only one direction.

So, this is what's described
as a knife, or a blade.
all evidence points
in only one direction.

So, this is what's described
as a knife, or a blade.

And it's thought that this was
one of the tools used

to harvest meat from moa.

Here are examples of fishhooks,
known as pa kahawai.

So, they were used
to catch the kahawai fish.

And we have a really good example
here of moa bone

being used for fishhooks and lures.

Amber believes her ancestors were
active participants to extinction.

Within our oral histories,

we have clues, or little indicators,
that there is a memory of the moa.

So, for instance, we have what are
called whakatauki, or proverbs,

and moteatea, which are,
like, laments,

and these proverbs and laments,
you know, mention moa.

and these proverbs and laments,
Interestingly, for the most part,

Interestingly, for the most part,

when they talk about moa,
they talk about loss.

So, they're talking about the loss
of land or the loss of people

or the loss of a great chief.

And they compare that
to the loss of the moa.

There is also one
that talks about the koromiko

as being the tree
that is used to roast the moa.

And, you know, maybe our people in
those days thought that they were

much more plentiful
than they actually were.

So, yeah, so, it's quite sad,
but it's, you know,

So, yeah, so, it's quite sad,
it's comforting to,

it's comforting to,

I don't know, I guess, know that,
you know, there is a sadness

from our ancestors
at the loss of the moa.

But, yeah, it's, like, we're all
sad about it when it's too late.

Unsustainable harvesting by humans

almost certainly
drove this big bird to extinction.

There are also cascading impacts
across the broader ecosystem

when you take out large animals
like moa.

So, this is a very rare skeleton
of the largest eagle in the world,

So, this is a very rare skeleton
the Haast's eagle.

the Haast's eagle.

This is the talon
of a Haast's eagle.

This is actually the size
of a tiger's claw.

It had a wingspan about 2.6m.

So pretty massive bird.

And the Haast's eagle became extinct
around the same time as moa.

We're not entirely sure why,

but probably because
they specialised in eating moa,

and so when there were no more
moa to eat, they ran out of food.

Another majestic predator
lost to history.

Could Australia's megafauna
have suffered the same fate?

Good having that breeze today.

A bit cooler than yesterday
Good having that breeze today.

A bit cooler than yesterday
and the day before.

My name's Kristian Coulthard,
I'm an Adnyamathanha man.

We always have
connection to country,

and our home range is predominantly
the northern Flinders Ranges,

so from Callabonna
and out to Lake Eyre.

So, that's, in a nutshell,
Adnyamathanha, yeah.

We're heading up to Warratyi,
Warratyi Rock Shelter.

So, we're going to have
a look at the adnya -

So, we're going to have
a look at the adnya -
the old cave, adnya, or house,

the old cave, adnya, or house,

where our people used to live,
date back as far as 50,000 years.

And a yamuti...
(UTTERS INDIGENOUS WORD)

..the diprotodon bone
was found in there,

..the diprotodon bone
so it's quite a special spot.

so it's quite a special spot.

Traditional owners
of the Adnyamathanha lands

are hosting academics
from Flinders University

are hosting academics
in a groundbreaking collaboration,

in a groundbreaking collaboration,

including zooarchaeologist
in a groundbreaking collaboration,

including zooarchaeologist
Cate Sexton.

CATE SEXTON: The project that
we're working on at Warratyi

is really new,
and it's really exciting
CATE SEXTON: The project that
we're working on at Warratyi

is really new,
and it's really exciting

because it takes
traditional knowledge

and it puts it at
the forefront of research.

and it puts it at
the forefront of research.
It leads with these stories and
these things that have been known

It leads with these stories and
these things that have been known

about country and about
the environment and the animals

for thousands of years.

(SPEAKS INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE)

Roger Johnson
(SPEAKS INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE)

Roger Johnson
is an Adnyamathanha elder

and one of the community leaders
here today.

and one of the community leaders
(SPEAKS INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE)

(SPEAKS INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE)

Roger just said, "How are youse all?

"So good to have youse here
Roger just said, "How are youse all?

"So good to have youse here
on our country."

We come to have a look
at the country

We come to have a look
and we come here in good spirits.

and we come here in good spirits.

He said that this place here
was connected to the yamuti,

which is the diprotodon.

CATE SEXTON: Among other things,
Warratyi Rock Shelter

is the oldest archaeological site
in South Australia.

Its lowest level is dated to
about 49,000 or 50,000 years old.

Its lowest level is dated to
But, really importantly,

But, really importantly,

this is the only place
so far in Australia

that we've found megafauna remains

from the same time
as people were using the shelter.

But just imagine, 50,000 years ago,
sitting on this rock ledge here,

there's a beautiful spring
running down the creek here, and...

(SPEAKS INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE)

The old people are watching
the country, and the...

The old people are watching
(SPEAKS INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE)

(SPEAKS INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE)

So, watching him come up the creek
and have a drink and maybe browsing,

seeing this big animal...
(UTTERS INDIGENOUS WORD)

seeing this big animal...
..grazing and drinking.

..grazing and drinking.

And then you might see
the giant kangaroo hop down,

And then you might see
because he's in our stories too.

because he's in our stories too.

And then maybe them large
flightless birds,

like large malleefowl-type bird
that used to live here.

It would be amazing, actually,
to see that, and to think

that our ancestors were sitting
here, living in this country

49,000 years,
practising ceremony, using ochre

49,000 years,
and using the same language as us,

and using the same language as us,

that me and Roger and the rest
and using the same language as us,

that me and Roger and the rest
of the family are using,

Adnyamathanha people
are using today.

It's pretty special.

Kristian's father brought an
archaeologist to the cave in 2011,

where a juvenile diprotodon bone
was discovered.

Yeah, it's, um...
this part of it right here.

Oh, yeah.
Oh, wow.

Warratyi is a shelter
on the side of a cliff,

so it's pretty unlikely
that this big four-legged animal

could have lumbered up by itself.

The remains of this animal
had to be brought up

The remains of this animal
by something else, probably people.

by something else, probably people.

Because of this, the sheer presence
of the bone in the shelter

was once considered evidence
of human predation.

And there was no
tooling marks found.

Nothing that we can see.

Yeah.

But the Adnyamathanha people
see things differently.

(SPEAKS INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE)

Come up here, you mob.

We're gonna sit down
and have a yarn.

For thousands of years, Aboriginal
people have used yarning circles

to interweave dialogues with others
to build respect and share knowledge.

The ancient stories of diprotodon,
or yamuti,

paint a very different picture
to what's previously been assumed.

MAN: Yamuti was mentioned
all through the Flinders Ranges.

It was huge. It was like a big bear.

They reckon
it was a dangerous animal.

The old people said,
as soon as the sun goes down,

The old people said,
the kids used to go to bed,

the kids used to go to bed,

because they had the feeling
the yamuti was around to, uh.

..to... (SPEAKS INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE)
..you know?

..to... (SPEAKS INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE)
To eat 'em.

To eat 'em.

It's really interesting because

there's no stories of us passed on

of us hunting them

and eating them constantly.

Because we feed them.
Yeah.

Because we feed them.
Like a common wombat today,

Like a common wombat today,

you know, they can be
Like a common wombat today,

you know, they can be
quite vicious as well.

So you think about something
that's...

So you think about something
..10, 20 times bigger...

..10, 20 times bigger...

Yeah.
..10, 20 times bigger...

Yeah.
He's something to fear.

Yeah.
And you want to run from him.

And you want to run from him.

Yeah, absolutely, yeah.
Yeah.

That's interesting, because you've
made me think about it differently

to the way I've thought about it
before.

to the way I've thought about it
Because I've always assumed

Because I've always assumed

that Aboriginal people would have
hunted megafauna like diprotodon,

because there's meat
and you might be hungry,

but what you're saying is
maybe they didn't.

Maybe they thought, well,
"We'll just hunt kangaroo or emu

Maybe they thought, well,
"and not mess with them too much."

"and not mess with them too much."

Well, that's right, Claire,
because you think about it,

Yuras didn't like to waste things.

So you think about an animal
the size of an SUV...

How are we going to process that?

How are we going to cook it?
How are we going to keep it?

We didn't smoke methods.
We lived subsistence lifestyle.

We didn't smoke methods.
We were hunters and gatherers.

We were hunters and gatherers.

CATE SEXTON: The bone
We were hunters and gatherers.

CATE SEXTON: The bone
that they found up at Warratyi

CATE SEXTON: The bone
was from a baby yamuti.

was from a baby yamuti.

Does that change anything?
Does that kind of fit...

Does that change anything?
It might.

It might.

That might have been opportunistic,
It might.

That might have been opportunistic,
you know.

"Oh, this is something
we can process.

"Oh, this is something
"We've got a big mob here." One off.

"We've got a big mob here." One off.

But there was no real stories
of us hunting megafauna.

MAN: No.
Nothing passed on.

And if it did happen, it would be
on a very rare occasion.

And if it did happen, it would be
But really, we feared him.

But really, we feared him.

We can look at the skeletons
of these animals,

and it doesn't tell us exactly
how they behaved at all.

So to hear about how the diprotodon,
how the yamuti behaved,

it switches our thinking.

Before maybe we were thinking
about it like a big elephant,

a gentle giant
moving throughout the landscape.

But actually what we needed to
picture it as was a fearsome rhino.

But actually what we needed to
(GROWLS)

(GROWLS)

That is a new interpretation

that we can start to test
with the material that we have

based on the traditional knowledge.

So what can this knowledge
add to extinction theory?

It's a really complex issue.

I think there was definitely
some kind of human role

I think there was definitely
in the extinction of the megafauna.

in the extinction of the megafauna.

I don't know what that is yet.

But if you can imagine
going back 50,000 years

and someone watching an animal
behave and writing it down...

..if you could find those writings,
if you could find that record today,

..if you could find those writings,
it would be a miracle for science.

it would be a miracle for science.

And what we have in knowledge of
traditional owners is that miracle.

And it would be...

It would be a crime for science
as well as for humanity

It would be a crime for science
not to listen to those people.

not to listen to those people.

This is...
(SPEAKS INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE).

Our country.

But at the end of the day...

..this is our story together.

You know? all of us.

You can cut there.
I want to compose myself a bit.

At the end of the day,

to mix the past with
scientific knowledge as well,

it's quite amazing.

And later on we might find
something even better.

And later on we might find
But at the moment,

But at the moment,

I suppose we watch this space, eh?

See what else comes from it. Yeah.

Megafauna disappearance in Australia

is one of the greatest cold cases
in world history.

Humanity is now looking
down the barrel

Humanity is now looking
of yet another mass extinction event.

of yet another mass extinction event.

Around 1 million animal
and plant species are now threatened,

many within decades.

So what can be taken
from our interrogations of the past

into this uncertain future?

The climates of Australia
have been changing quite a lot

The climates of Australia
over many thousands of years,

over many thousands of years,

and it's unlikely that this is
over many thousands of years,

and it's unlikely that this is
the first rapid change in climate

that the megafauna
would have experienced.

The difference between
this climate change

might have been
the presence of people.

Rapid environmental change
took megafauna to the edge.

Rapid environmental change
But was it human behaviour

But was it human behaviour

that pushed them over the precipice
into oblivion?

GILBERT PRICE: There's an overkill
extinction argument that suggests

when humans come into a landmass
like Australia,

they come up against a naive fauna

and they basically overhunt things
to extinction quite rapidly.

But we've got no evidence
of anything like a mass extinction

as soon as humans turn up
in Australia.

There's so much more
that we need to know.

There's so much more
We just simply need more data.

We just simply need more data.

WOMAN: We're dealing with
a complex ecosystem.

It makes sense that the answer
is probably quite complex.

Trying to understand why animals
died out 50,000 years ago

will give us a window
into understanding patterns,

and maybe we can project
that forward into the future

to help conserve
our precious biodiversity.

There's a whole batch of knowledge
of thousands of years

that's been developed up
by the traditional owners

that's been developed up
that will tell us stories

that will tell us stories

that we can then confirm
with fossil evidence,

and then piece together
all of these amazing stories

and understand the continent
that we now all inherit

and understand the continent
and appreciate as our own.

and appreciate as our own.

Because those tales of the past
will help us understand

how we adapt and change
into the future.

how we adapt and change
Captions by Red Bee Media

Captions by Red Bee Media

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Australian Broadcasting Corporation