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| Land of Monsters; What if the Aborigines never tamed it? | |
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| Topic Started: Jun 6 2010, 08:45 PM (2,244 Views) | |
| Practically Uninformed | Jun 6 2010, 08:45 PM Post #1 |
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Informed enough to care
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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? |
| You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper! | |
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| MitchBeard | Jun 11 2010, 05:58 AM Post #61 |
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proud gondwanan
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Well baby wombats are called joeys, so baby diprotodons would probably be joeys too. They would definately stick with cattle and sheep. The mentality of the colonists and early settlers was that Australia was wild, primitive and inferior. The domestication of diprotodon wouldn't start till three quarters of the way through the 20th century, and it would definately be a niche market, even today. Edited by MitchBeard, Jun 11 2010, 05:58 AM.
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| The Dodo | Jun 11 2010, 07:36 AM Post #62 |
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Prime Specimen
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Would they be good animals for beasts of burden? |
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| MitchBeard | Jun 11 2010, 07:59 AM Post #63 |
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proud gondwanan
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D. optatum weighed in at around 2700kg (somewhere between a white rhino and a female indian elephant), D. minor at 900kg and was mostly found in inland eastern Australia. Zygomaturus weighs in at 500kg, so might be easier to handle, but is thought to be semi-aquatic. They would have definately been able to pull a plow. Endurance, eh, they'd probably do well enough travelling and pulling a cart if you didn't push them too hard. |
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7:13 PM Jul 10