Extinctions along the last legs of the first human migrations to Australia

This presentation will explore the Pleistocene and Holocene extinction records along the routes of ancient and modern human migrations to Australia. Beginning with Homo erectus and their arrival in Southeast Asia, I will describe efforts to model their movements through the region and the impacts, if any, that they may have had on mammalian megafauna. Also key to this story is the extinction of this and other hominins during the mid to late Pleistocene. Hominins such as Homo luzonensis and Homo floresiensis were endemic island species whose demise may match other insular extinction records. The record of Homo sapiens movements through Wallacea begins shortly after these losses, but significant impacts on biotas by modern humans only seem to coincide with the Neolithic and the suite of behavioural and technological advances observed throughout the region. Finally, I will describe new efforts to address the megafaunal data deficit in Australia, through targeted excavations of new types of deposits.