Vombatus hacketti explained

Vombatus hacketti, Hackett's wombat, is an extinct species of wombat that lived in Southwest Australia during the Late Pleistocene. It survived until very recently, going extinct between 10,000 and 20,000 BP.^{[1] [2]}

Description

Fossils of this species were first found in Mammoth Cave.^[3] Its skull was larger than that of the common wombat, indicating it grew to larger sizes.

Hackett's wombat survived longer than most other prehistoric Australian fauna. This may indicate that the arrival of humans may have played a greater role in its extinction, rather than just climate change.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Recently Extinct Plants and Animals Database cubit: The Recently Extinct Plants and Animals Database Extinct Mammals: Marsupials: Vombatus hacketti. cubits.org. 2017-04-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20170420235938/http://cubits.org/theextinctioncubit/db/extinctmammals/view/18816/. 2017-04-20. dead.
2. Book: MacPhee, R. D. E.. Extinctions in Near Time. 1999-06-30. Springer Science & Business Media. 9780306460920.
3. Glauert . Ludwig . The Mammoth cave . Records of the Western Australian Museum and Art Gallery . 1910 . 1 . 1 . 11–36.
4. Prideaux . G.J. . Timing and dynamics of Late Pleistocene mammal extinctions in southwestern Australia . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA . 2010 . 107 . 51 . 22157–22162 . 10.1073/pnas.1011073107. 21127262 . 3009796 . 2010PNAS..10722157P . free .