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Land of Monsters; What if the Aborigines never tamed it?
Topic Started: Jun 6 2010, 08:45 PM (2,248 Views)
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This concept isn't much "alternative evolution" as it is alternate history, but since it deals with an outcome of an incredibly different environment, I feel it could go here.

As is known, Australia used to have terrifying creatures roaming around about 40,000 years ago, such as (but not limited to) giant wombats, carnivorous kangaroos, land-dwelling crocodiles, and a bird that was bigger than the moa. However, it seems that when the Australian Aborigines rolled around to the island, bringing with them their "technique" of burning grasslands to clear space, most of the megafauna died out. By the time the British rolled in, few creatures got to be bigger than the Grey Kangaroo, or the emu.

So, I present an alternative: What if the Aborigines never arrived? What if Australia remained uninhabited by a permanent race, and the whites were the first people to ever settle there? What might happen to the biodiversity, and how might this have changed the face of modern science?
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I'd imagine it would be very, very interesting for the Victorian-era world to become acquainted with these monsters independently of fossils.

Just think how it would affect antiquity! the Beagle might've ended up going to Australia rather than the Galapagos, some animals would have vastly different names (Kangaroos=Rat Horses, for example), there'd naturally be a heavy period of interest in the land Down Under...and this time, Australia's reputation for everything wanting to kill you would be justified 10 times over.
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The Dodo
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Rat horses, they give impressions of horrible looking creatures.
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And sure, rabbits have a massive impact on the landscape when they boom, but with more competition and with a few more predator still around when white man show up

A lot of the smaller predators I'd imagine would go well preying on the new rabbits, like the Wedge Tail Eagles. Though the larger predators would be in the most danger extinction as white settlers would be defensive over their livestock.
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dialforthedevil
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I could imagine Megalania being hunted rather quickly due to the sheer fear of being faced with one...how they would put one in a zoo I do not know
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Holben
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How many megalania would be around though? And the areas farmers didn't occupy could be havens for these animals.

Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

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dialforthedevil
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Maybe human colonies would be very small well defended commumities to prevent the large predators from entering.
I can imagine most towns would have some sort of physical barricade to protect them. This is jumping into alternate history but it would result in a far more totalitarian and militarised Australia in these isolated communities.Sorry about going off topic but I could not help to explain how i thought the biology would effect society :happy:
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Holben
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Fair enough, but would these animals attack humans over livestock and pets?
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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dialforthedevil
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I guess a Megalania or thylacaleo would attack cows as they are easy prey and we already know humans were hunted by the megalania
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Holben
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Yeah, good point. Thylacines got hunted for doing just that.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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Margaret Pye
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Certainly, Australia's had rats for... six million years? Ten million years? At any rate, long enough to evolve some unusual forms (like Hydromys, which has done a pretty good job of evolving into an otter) and long enough that the weird little hawk Elanus scriptus has evolved to eat nothing else.
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MitchBeard
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As far as predation goes, the rabbits biggest problem is the fox -facepalm-
Megalania would be able to hold out in the wilder regions.
Australia is the 6th largest country in the world and the 232nd most densely populated. Most of population clings to the coast and there are still vast regions unsettled and some even unexplored I'd wager.
Human arrival might even benefit Megalania, I don't think it would be too much of a stretch of the imagination to picture a rise in numbers of these predatory lizards in response to the plague proportion outbreaks of feral camels in the Northern Territory.

Pretty sure its closer to 6 million years. We were given an exact figure in one of my courses last year, couldn't find it in my notes though.
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Carlos
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Its worth to note that the aboriginal people caused Australia's dry climate; before they went around burning of the sorrouding world so many times the vegetation couldn't adapt and died off, Australia's deserts composed about lower than 15% of the continent's interior. The dominant ecosystems were savannas and scrubland, and permanent bodies of water were far more common and percepitation was more stable, what with the more vegetation transpirating and all.

Therefore, I suppose Australia's population could be significantly higher than on our world, if the white people don't do the same repetitive burning that aborigenes did.
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dialforthedevil
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i don't think white men would do such damage they didnt burn down all the savannahs in south africa so why australia. Although at first i reckon they would try to set up farms but it would just be to difficult never in the history of the modern world has man ever had to fight creatures whuch would take more than a few bullets to kill. Instead of cattle the diprotodons could be used as cattle,and because they were used to megalania i think that they would be able to defend themselves so less are killed unlike cattle meaining that megalania are not massacred for killing thousands of farm animals.
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Holben
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Killer whales take dozens of bullets to kill even if you hit them in the melon.

It isn't really farming prime estate...
only the hardiest of aniamls could be farmed in most areas, probably arable faming scattered around the place though.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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dialforthedevil
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sorry i meant to say land predators although i think the british settlers would plant the crops which grew successfully in africa grow there so the introduction of coffee and tea plantations
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Holben
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;) s'alright.

Maybe, yes. In all likelihood the ones least common in other plantations, or perhaps sugar plantations? A whole new target for slavedealers...
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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