A reply to comment by Brook et al. "Would the Australian megafauna have become extinct if humans had never colonized the continent?"

Abstract

With reference to our recent article in Quaternary Science Reviews: "A review of the evidence for a human role in the extinction of Australian megafauna and an alternative explanation", Brook et al. have responded with a series of objections. Brook et al. reject: (1) any significant role for climate in the extinction of Australian megafauna;(2) our interpretation of the archaeological, palaeoenvironmental, palaeontological and chronological records; and (3) most surprisingly, our assertion that debate over the of timing and causes of the extinction process is even an issue - in their view it is already resolved. All despite the indisputable fact that they offer no hard data demonstrating that the great majority of megafaunal species allegedly exterminated by people survived to within 100 ka of human arrival.