Wonderfully Strange World 0 ▲ Speedysnail 1 hour ago · Nature · hide An article on Tasmanian devils in the ancient Pilbara in Western Australia (via Mefi) mentioned “the arrival of the dingo about 4,000 years ago [as] a suggested cause for the extinction of the devils from the Australian mainland, with the animals estimated to have disappeared about 800 years later”. The world four thousand years ago, which doesn’t seem that long ago really, was wonderfully strange: The Australian mainland had thylacines and Tasmanian devils; New Zealand was unpopulated and had giant eagles and 12-foot-high moa; Madagascar was unpopulated and had 10-foot-high elephant birds; A one-tonne llama-like animal with a moose-like nose probably still roamed South America; and The last woolly mammoths were living on Wrangel Island in the Russian Arctic. Meanwhile, the Bronze Age was halfway over in Greece and had just begun in Britain, the Great Pyramid of Giza had already been standing for around 600 years, and people had been living in Australia for between forty-five and… Commenting on Bubbles has been removed. Why? If you want to talk about this post, write to the author, use the comments on their blog if it has them, or reply with a "RE:" post on your own blog. Suggestions? feedback@bubbles.town
