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	Genyornis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Genyornis (Genyornis newtoni) was a monotypic genus of large, flightless bird that lived in Australia until about 26,000 years ago.
		Through this means, it was determined that Genyornis declined and became extinct over a short period of time -- too short for it to be plausibly explained by climate change.
		The authors considered this to be a very good indication that the entire mass extinction event in Australia was due to human activity, rather than climate change.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Genyornis (194 words)

	BatesNow \| 8/8/2005 \| Australian research suggests human potential to change environment
		Genyornis couldn't adapt to radical changes in the available food supply, while the emu could, according to a geological study published in the July 8 issue of Science magazine and co-authored by Bates geochemist Beverly Johnson.
		But the tale of Genyornis and the emu is the key to a much greater story, one that suggests the human capacity for affecting the environment.
		It was that ecological change that doomed Genyornis and it was the human presence that caused the change, say the study's authors.
	www.bates.edu /x72018.xml (919 words)

	Dromornithidae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The two species of Ilbandornis (Ilbandornis lawsoni and Ilbandornis woodburnei) were larger birds, but had more slender legs than the other dromornithids and were similar to ostriches in their build and size.
		The most recent evidence, of Genyornis newtoni, has been found at Cuddie Springs, north central New South Wales and dated at 31,000 years old.
		The most recent species, Genyornis newtoni, was certainly known to Aborigines during the Late Pleistocene.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Mihirung (2239 words)

	Dromornithidae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Bullockornis planei (the Demon Duck of Doom) and Genyornis newtoni (the mihirung) were more heavily built, stood about 2-2.5m tall and probably reached weights of 220 to 240 kg.
		The issue of how much of an impact humans had on dromornithids and other large animals of the time is unresolved and much debated.
		Williams, D. Genyornis eggshell (Dromornithidae; Aves) from the Late Pleistocene of South Australia.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Dromornithidae (2239 words)

	Title: DEBATING EXTINCTION , By: Flannery, Timothy F
		Genyornis was a ponderous bird, around 80 to 100 kg in weight, about twice as heavy as the living emu and cassowary.
		Critics will doubtless quite justifiably question whether the extinction of Genyornis coincides with that of the rest of the Australian megafauna or whether just this one species went extinct at the time of human arrival.
		Genyornis newtoni were capable of escaping from the giant (up to 7 m long) varanid lizard, Megalania prisca, the bird's eggs would have enriched the predator's diet.
	www.hawaii.edu /geog_mr/ssci250online/13-biodiversity/flannery.htm (1119 words)

	BBC - Science & Nature - Wildfacts - Genyornis
		Genyornis fossils have been found in the south and east of Australia, in areas that were arid at the time the bird lived.
		Skeletons of Genyornis are on display at Monash Science Centre, Monash University, Clayton in Victoria State, Australia and the South Australia Museum, Adelaide.
		Ducks and geese (Anseriformes) are the closest relatives of Genyornis.
	www.bbc.co.uk /nature/wildfacts/factfiles/3043.shtml (246 words)

	Augusta Georgia: technology@ugusta: Researchers: Humans caused extinctions in Australia 01/08/99
		Age dating and chemical analysis of fossilized egg shells from a huge extinct bird suggest that the animals disappeared after humans spent centuries burning the forests and shrubs in the central areas of Australia, according to the team of researchers.
		Among them were 19 types of marsupials, some weighing more than 220 pounds; a hippo-sized animal related to the wombat; a 25-foot-long snake; a 25-foot-long lizard; and a horned tortoise the size of a small car.
		Genyornis was, itself, a huge bird, weighing more than 200 pounds.
	chronicle.augusta.com /stories/010899/tec_124-2980.shtml (528 words)

	Carillon (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-01)
		The researchers used a dating technique known as racemization on the fossil Genyornis eggshells, in which changes in the amino acids present in the shells act as geological clocks.
		The results indicated Genyornis, which had a strong, shearing beak, was dependent primarily on shrubs and trees, while other bird and animal species with more versatile feeding habits survived.
		Although some have speculated the demise of Genyornis was due to overhunting, evidence of direct predation on the birds by humans is limited to a single site, said Miller.
	www.colorado.edu /Carillon/volume20/stories/1_animal.html (972 words)

	GENYORNIS EXTINCTION VERSUS EMU SURVIVAL: SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF MEGAFAUNAL EXTINCTION IN AUSTRALIA
		To finally resolve the extinction debate we need to obtain an unequivocal extinction chronology for a wide variety of taxa across a wide transect of climatic zones and to determine whether extinction was selective for dietary preference from an improved eco-physiological understanding of the animals and palaeodietary analyses.
		Before its extinction, Genyornis coexisted with emus at least across the arid and semi-arid zones where eggshells of both species occur relatively abundantly in aeolian sediments.
		We believe that a comparison between Genyornis and emu characteristics across an environmental and climatic gradient coupled with an examination of the timing and environmental context of Genyornis extinction offers the best prospects for unravelling the cause and process of megafaunal extinction.
	gsa.confex.com /gsa/inqu/finalprogram/abstract_55036.htm (493 words)

	Early Human Activity In Australia May Have Led To Animal Extinctions (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-01)
		The research team speculated that many browsers like the flightless Genyornis -- and other animal species that fed predominately on shrubs and trees -- became extinct after centuries of burning by humans in the continent's interior changed the ecosystem's flora.
		The results indicated Genyornis -- which had a strong, shearing beak -- was dependent primarily on shrubs and trees, while other bird and animal species with more versatile feeding habits survived.
		"We conclude than Genyornis was primarily a browser, and likely dependent on extensive shrub land, a dependency that may have made it susceptible to ecosystem disruption," the authors wrote.
	www.junkscience.com /jan99/extinct.htm (1037 words)

	News in Science - Humans killed giant birds: but how? - 20/08/2001
		Genyornis - dead as a dodo, but the exact cause of extinction is still a mystery.
		Dr John Magee of the Australian National University and Professor Gifford Miller of the University of Colorado analysed eggshell fragments from Genyornis (Genyornis newtoni), a 2-metre-tall bird that inhabited the continent during the Pleistocene, along with huge marsupials and reptiles.
		As with Genyornis, extinction had to occur soon after humans arrived, be coincident across different climatic regions and different species, and occur within a short time frame.
	www.abc.net.au /science/news/stories/s348998.htm (469 words)

	Center for Geochronological Research
		The extinction of Genyornis 50,000 ago is corroborated by more than 100 AMS 14C dates, 8 luminescence dates between 40 and 120 thousand years ago on eolian sand from which eggshell has been collected, and 5 TIMS U-series dates on Genyornis eggshell.
		By evaluating paleoenvironmental reconstructions for the past 150,000 it was demonstrated that Genyornis was able to survive the range of natural environmental changes caused by Pleistocene climate oscillations.
		During the period of Genyornis extinction climate was moderate.
	instaar.colorado.edu /research/geochron.html (1348 words)

	ANTHROPOLOGY: ON HUMAN IMPACTS ON ECOSYSTEMS
		By analyzing carbon isotopes in individually dated eggshells, they were able to compare the contributions of plants that use the C4 photosynthetic pathway (mainly tropical and arid-adapted grasses) and those that use the C3 pathway (most shrubs, trees, and nongrass herbs) to the diet of the birds that laid the eggs.
		Genyornis eggshells were common before 50,000 years ago, but they abruptly disappeared at the same time as the diet of the emu changed.
		Before then, Genyornis also ate a mixture of C3 and C4 plants, but its diet was much less variable than that of the emu through the same period, which suggests that it was a more specialized feeder.
	scienceweek.com /2005/sw050805-3.htm (1333 words)

	Bush fires set by early settlers burned out Australian animals study says
		They examined preserved eggshells left behind by the giant Genyornis and found evidence that the bird died out at three locations in Australia at about the same time.
		Australia had many large animals before humans arrived, including Genyornis, which was about the size of an ostrich, a hippopotamus-size relative of the wombat, a Volkswagen-size tortoise and a huge snake, 8 meters long.
		The Genyornis is illustrated as being attacked by an 8-meter-long giant lizard in this picture by Peter Trusler.
	www.trussel.com /prehist/news99.htm (617 words)

	Fossil Eggshells Hold Clues To Major Animal Extinctions As Reported In Science
		Miller's group cleared this hurdle when they documented the timing of the extinction of Genyornis newtoni, a ponderous flightless bird with thick, short legs that weighed around 200 pounds--twice as much as the modern day emu.
		More work is needed to prove that Genyornis disappeared at the same time-for the same reasons-as the rest of the extinct Australian megafauna.
		But recently Miller's group has begun to investigate sites that contain both Genyornis and other megafaunal fossils at what seems to have been the eve of their existence--younger deposits contain no trace of the extinct megafauna, only fossilized eggshells of the still-living emu.
	www.eurekalert.org /pub_releases/1999-01/AAft-FEHC-070199.php (783 words)

	49. Relatives in Australia
		Genyornis at that time also lived on a mixture of C4 and C3 plants but its diet was much less varied than that of the emu, suggesting that it was a more specialized feeder.
		Possibly mixed woodlands and grasslands grass were converted into monotonous shrubland, or nutritious grasses were replaced by poor-quality species, forcing the emus to increase their feeding on non-grass species.
		Wombat teeth tell the same story: today, wombats are mostly grazers but around the time when emus changed their feeding and Genyornis went extinct, the wombats also changed from C4 grass to C3 shrubs.
	www.andaman.org /BOOK/chapter51/text51.htm (2263 words)

	Birds - 'Thunder Birds' - The Family Dromornithidae
		Amino acid analysis of Genyornis eggshells also indicates that this species was herbivorous.
		There is good evidence that Genyornis, at least, was a plant eater, while Bullockornis and Dromornis, with larger heads, may have had different diets.
		Field, J.H. and Boles, W.E. Genyornis newtoni and Dromaius novaehollandiae at 30,000 b.p.
	www.amonline.net.au /birds/factsheets/thunder_birds.htm (1937 words)

	i-Newswire.com - Press Release And News Distribution - Ancient diets of Australian birds point to big ecosystem changes
		Scientists have shown there were no significant swings in the continent's climate during that period, leading most to believe that humans had a hand in the extinctions through over-hunting, spreading disease or by altering the vegetation of the vast interior through systematic burning.
		Using isotopic studies of fossil eggshells from both indigenous emus and the extinct, ostrich-sized Genyornis, a new study by Miller and colleagues publishing in the July 8 issue of Science magazine shows that the ecosystem's flora changed swiftly and dramatically after humans arrived.
		But according to the research team, Genyornis -- which also preferred the nutritious grass prior to 50,000 years ago -- failed to make the dietary switch and became extinct shortly after humans arrived, he said.
	i-newswire.com /pr35468.html (1047 words)

	BBC News \| Sci/Tech \| Big bird clue to mass extinction
		Gifford Miller of the University of Colorado and his colleagues appear to have jumped this hurdle by using a variety of alternative dating techniques not based on radiocarbon isotopes.
		They dated the extinction of Genyornis newtoni, a ponderous flightless bird with thick, short legs that weighed around 200 pounds - twice as much as the modern day emu.
		"I think we have compelling circumstantial evidence that the Genyornis extinction date is applicable to the vast majority of Australian megafauna (large animals)," said Miller.
	news.bbc.co.uk /1/low/sci/tech/250469.stm (532 words)

	Australian Museum - Burnt Offerings for Big Bird?
		By sampling eggshell from three different regions of arid and semi-arid Australia, the researchers demonstrated that Emus and Genyornis were companions for hundreds of thousands of years until, in one fell swoop about 50,000 years ago, Genyornis died out from each of the areas (and presumably the rest of the continent).
		Isotopic analysis of the eggshells indicates that Genyornis relied on a specialised diet of leaves, while Emus ate both leaves and grasses.
		The researchers suggest that the change in landscape-burning regimes caused by the earliest Australians led to the loss of leafy habitat, which in turn led to the extinction of Genyornis and other large browsers (indeed, most of the megafauna were probably browsers).
	www.amonline.net.au /display.cfm?id=790 (473 words)

	Cuddie Springs: Archaeology, Univ. of Sydney
		When excavating bones, it is often difficult to tell what type of animal it is unless teeth and skulls are found.
		The picture at left shows the lower jaw of a Diprotodon (the teeth are just visible) and a stone tool which was probably used to butcher the same animal.
		While the stone tools that were found with the extinct animals resemble butchering tools from other ancient sites, this does not necessarily mean that they were used for this purpose.
	acl.arts.usyd.edu.au /research/cuddie/cuddie.html (1745 words)

	Late Pleistocene Glaciation of the Kosciuszko Massif, Snowy Mountains, Australia (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-01)
		Genyorni eggshells have been analysed from a variety of locations in South Australia (Lake Eyre, Lake Frome, Cooper Mouth) and New South Wales (Perry Sand Hills).
		Thus while humans probably played some role in the diminution of the Genyornis population, they co-existed for at least 10 ka, and there is no evidence for a catastrophic decline in population as occurred for the New Zealand moa.
		This suggests that the extinction of Genyornis newtoni probably resulted from a combination of factors; a reduction in numbers due to human preditation followed closely by major changes in the environment as the Australian continent became cooler and more arid in reponse to glacial cooling.
	www.aqua.org.au /AQUA/meetings/Bowlerfest/McCulloch.html (624 words)

	ANU - Research School of Earth Sciences - ANU COLLEGE OF SCIENCE - Research Highlights Gagan Eggs
		This discovery is the best evidence yet that early humans may have altered the continent's interior with fire, changing it from a mosaic of trees, shrubs, and grasses to the desert scrub evident today.
		The analyses, which pinpoint particular plant groups ingested by the birds, indicated that emus living before 50,000 years ago preferred nutritious grasses characteristic of milder temperatures and warm summer rains.
		But Genyornis -- which also preferred the nutritious grass prior to 50,000 years ago -- failed to make the dietary switch and became extinct shortly after humans arrived.
	rses.anu.edu.au /admin/index.php?p=research_highlights_gagan_eggs&print=1 (603 words)

	[No title]
		The scientists studied changes in the eggshells of the now-extinct bird Genyornis and the surviving emu.
		The Genyornis eggs did not change and the bird died out.
		Researchers discounted the possibility of over-hunting or disease introduced by humans as likely contributors to the death because those would not have involved changes in the animals' basic diet.
	www.hinduonnet.com /thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2005070802662200.htm&date=2005/07/08/&prd=th& (436 words)

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