How Ancient Art Captured Australian Megafauna

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Beneath layers of rock art are drawings of animals SO strange that, for a long time, some anthropologists thought they could only have been imagined. But what if these animals really had existed, after all?
Thanks to the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation, Professor Bruno David, Monash University, and David Morgan-Mar (dmm.photo) for providing photographs for this episode!
And thanks to Ceri Thomas (nixillustration.com), Nobu Tamura (spinops.blogspot.com/), Dmitry Bogdanov, and Roman Uchytel for allowing us to use their wonderful paleoart in this episode.
Produced in collaboration with PBS Digital Studios: / pbsdigitalstudios
Super special thanks to the following Patreon patrons for helping make Eons possible:
Dan Ritter, Ian Greenblatt, Amanda Straw, Stephanie Tan, Minyuan Li, Ben Cooper, Leonid, Robert Noah, Matt Parker, Heathe Kyle Yeakley, Jerrit Erickson, Jack Arbuckle, David Sewall, Anton Bryl, Missy Elliott Smith, Zachary Spencer, Stefan Weber, Andrey, Ilya Murashov, Larry Wilson, Merri Snaidman, Gabriel Cortez, Marcus Lejon, Robert Arévalo, Todd Dittman, Esmeralda Rupp-Spangle, Betsy Radley, Anthony Callaghan, Laura Sanborn, PS, Philip Slingerland, John Vanek, Eric Vonk, Henrik Peteri, Jon Monteiro, James Bording, Miles Chaston, Michael McClellan, Jeff Graham, Maria Humphrey, Daisuke Goto, Hubert Rady, Gregory Kintz, Tyson, Chandler Bass, Joao Ascensao, Tsee Lee, Robert Hill, Colleen Troussel
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References: docs.google.com/document/d/1J...

[@fullerdb]

"The soil can dissolve bones." Australia keeps killing you even after you are dead. 😲

[@97Multiphantom]

I swear that continent is just one giant SCP

[@Lucius1958]

Same here in New England: organic remains can disappear after only a couple of centuries. See the Venture Smith exhumation, or that of Roger Williams.

[@ariannasilva4462]

That's really good. XD

[@thepotatoofheaven]

I thought all soil dissolves ur bones after dead long enough

[@fool3609]

666 likes ahahaha

[@davidhanson4909]

You think Australia is tough now, you should've been there when it was in Beta.

[@LuinTathren]

A Tier Zoo reference?

[@omegasoldier382]

Tier Zoo has entered the chat

[@jackdaniel6648]

australia wasnt in beta 40,000 years ago but yes it was pretty tough before the cambrian patch

[@Adahn99]

Yeah, the Australia dlc was pretty much broken at release and almost unplayable. Luckily it has been patched, though some of my favourite tank builds were banned from the final version.

[@shaider1982]

More like an earlier build, when the human class was still starting.

[@jka6543]

And sadly, some 46,000 thousand year old Aboriginal rock art was recently blown up to make way for a mine for Rio Tinto :( Thank you also for acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands you discuss.

[@axelcoltic4370]

Some people just dont deserve to live imo

[@brianisme6498]

Ya, unless it brings in a lot of tourism the Australian government lets the mining industry do what they want with the land. Even if it destroys spiritually or historically significant aboriginal land

[@Rakanarshi2]

Mining companies have really screwed a lot of things up.

[@Naiadryade]

Dammit capitalism, just stop it already

[@cdemr]

Australia has a problem with mining companies

[@cintronproductions9430]

Bone-crushing marsupial lions, rhino-sized wombats, giant walking kangaroos, massive Komodo dragons and demon ducks of doom, man, Australia back then was even crazier and scarier than today. XD

[@westbysouthwest]

Ancient Australia, just like modern Australia, where everything can kill you. Only five times more brutal.

[@MrAranton]

And yet: They were not match for the most dangerous of all animals: homo sapiens.

[@Fede_99]

You forgot the running crocodiles, the giant koalas, the big snakes and and the Ankylosaur like giant tortoises, Australia was really an alien world

[@HopeRock425]

The giant kangaroo looks like a big rabbit.

[@newtscamander7713]

Diprotodonts are one of my favorite mammals that have ever existed.

[@blueberrylane8340]

Sometimes i think about the fact we will never discover fossils of 99.9% of everything that ever lived here on earth. It is both heady and humbling.

[@spaniel5657]

Now imagine 99.9% of every living creature this universe had ever produced or will ever produce... sometimes I wish I had a index of every creature to ever exist

[@redfern03]

A great combination of Australia's beautiful indigenous art and some very interesting paleontology. Really enjoyed this; thanks.

[@ramanchaudhary2518]

mfanto1 yes

[@wdavis9680]

Indigenous people, simply meaning those who arrived NOT on penal ships from Europe, you know those vessels loaded with the (not) best and brightest, you know the deplorables. So maybe "Indigenous art" would best be called aboriginal art being that the first people of Australia didn't start out there but rather came there by our human collective need to discover. If that's the question you posed?

[@jonathanfields4ever]

@@wdavis9680 man... that’s a lot of angry derp for one comment

[@wdavis9680]

@@jonathanfields4ever well thank you

[@n.ramthilak4475]

The creatures are Beautiful until u go there

[@MST406]

Interesting side note concerning the pictograph panels: Many of these sites functioned as classrooms for many generations, hence the obscuring/overlapping of newer drawings atop older ones.

[@cake.farts.6991]

And you know this how?

[@MST406]

I'm a history teacher and have visited sites, studied pictographs and oral histories, etc. Very interesting stuff!

[@James-kv6kb]

They weren't blackboards this was a ceremonial thing but like being in a church you would learn the spiritual nature of it

[@michaelhenshaw-vetmedengli2064]

While genomics is critical to the study of evolution, I'm really happy to see this episode utilizing art as another line of evidence. Nicely done!

[@TheRealFlenuan]

It doesn't exactly showcase evolution since it's not diachronic, though it does show some diversity of the recent evolutionary past that is now otherwise hard to access.

[@zeff8820]

How is genomic critical to evolution?

[@SuperPsichi]

@@zeff8820 it's shows how things evolved. They can go like "oh this sequence of dna changed from this time this time" and they already know that the animals that pass on their genes are the ones that survived to reproduce, so this kinda gives them time frames. There's another pbs eons that explains the process better.

[@James-kv6kb]

The problem is they came back every year and repainted them so I'm not sure how that actually works

[@ecurewitz]

If you thought everything in Australia can kill you now, just think of the continent 50,000 years ago

[@bethwelsh8585]

Boy isn't that the truth ! Terrifying 😱

[@bumblingfool2211]

I live in Australia and the only thing that's scary is how much of a tinderbox this country is.

[@cintronproductions9430]

@@bumblingfool2211 What about the magpies? I hear they rip off people's eyes for no reason. 😱

[@bumblingfool2211]

@@cintronproductions9430 Tearing out people's eyes? Haha if that happened that person must've been just super unlucky. Some magpies may swoop people if they're being territorial or protective over their young, but I imagined that would be the case for any territorial bird. And from my experience, I've never been attacked by any magpies but I do often see them chasing out other birds.

[@bumblingfool2211]

The only bird I would do well to keep off my property is cockatoos. They have a bad reputation where I'm from because they're so used to humans they go and perch on people's roof or railing, and since cockatoos love to bite objects and sharpen their beak on things they end up tearing pieces of wood and scratching up people's houses.

[@MuertaRara]

Finally a video about the Australian Megafauna! Please cover more, this topic is so interesting but so often overlooked

[@MaskedNozza]

I liked seeing that message at the end paying respects to all the indigenous peoples of Australia. I'm not indigenous but not enough media outlets pay their respects. Well done, guys 👍

[@garethtudor836]

It's a regular feature of TV programmes in Australia, particularly on our national broadcaster and multicultural broadcasters

[@seandejong2308]

Maybe they should do the same with indigenous peoples on other continents, like North-America 😊

[@user-ed9qu5im2y]

And the more people start paying respect to Indigenous people and raising the profile of their history and lands - the more people will follow and the more we can advance the healing. I also appreciate it.

[@scaper8]

@@seandejong2308 Agreed that this is something that they and others should continue doing, but that said, unless I'm mistaken, I think that a similar message appeared at the end of a recent episode about some of the North American indigenous peoples.

[@SuAva]

Both countries still have a long way to go with respecting their native populations, but this sure is a good step to get some acknowledgement and respect at least.

[@TragoudistrosMPH]

9:24 Taking a moment to thank the descendants of the first people was a great gesture. Making people aware of their *names* was steps further than most ever consider. Eons is great!

[@skelitonking117]

Even though i fail to see their impact of Palaeontology. In terms of Archeology it makes sense, because you’re dealing with actual things tied to that people; but Palaeontology usually only has to do with animals in specific and not any members of the group Homo; i fail to see why they need be recognized just because they happen to live in the area’s that these creatures also live in. If it has to do with their spirituality, i think that’s a little disingenuous, all cultures have an indigenous relationship to the land, spiritualism is a defining trait of early tribal man; do they think that every descendant of every culture is consulted, thanked, and recognized for whatever discovery is made about them? No, because that would be ridiculous.

[@TheS1ickness]

All For One&One For All I’m pretty sure that the reason it helps palaeontology is because it helps give a range to the land those animals lived in, it helped give a time frame for for when those animals lived and the paleo art can help give us a image of what those animals looked like when they were still covered in their “flesh armour.”

[@BonaparteBardithion]

@@skelitonking117 Imagine it's a video about orchestral music history. The video could paint in broad strokes and say "this happened in Europe while that happened in Asia" and that would be fine. But people who want to know more about where the compositions, musicians, and instruments came from will want specifics. This instrument was modified to the current standard in Germany, that composer was Russian, this violinist was Italian. It's the same thing. It's important to recognize the cultures and settings that birthed art, or in this case the cultures and subsequent art that descended from the artists.

[@skyemiddletonx9006]

@@skelitonking117 as an Australian studying palaeontology. Who's land do you think I'm going to be possibly digging up and wrecking looking for animal bones? Yeah no it's awkward AF and as palaeontologists we need to listen and respect the rules of the land they are a part of.

[@SuperFlamingTomato]

@@skelitonking117 I would argue that Australian Aboriginal culture is extremely intimately linked to the land, more so than many other cultures. As someone who lives in Australia, it's hard not to notice the extreme onus of land in Aboriginal spirituality, it is past, present and future to them, their ancestors and their descendants, their spiritual forebears. Connection to country is extremely important to them, and I think they deserve respect for that. All cultures that have a link to objects of study do. I think it would be disingenuous to argue, for example, that analysing the architecture of the Kaaba at Mecca didn't need recognition and permission from people of the Islamic faith, because architecture is not necessarily related to religion and in any case it predates Islam. In the same way, just because the land predates human arrival (which btw, many of Aboriginal spirituality don't necessarily believe, and while we can disagree we must still respect that belief) doesn't mean that we shouldn't acknowledge them when working on their land.

[@seleukiasoter9305]

Where/who does the music for this? Occasionally i accidentally hear something that gives me the bloody chills and id like to hear more

[@MatMabee]

Callie Dishman and APM

[@mmmirei]

Most of the music in this vid is making me super sleepy, but it’s also pretty late, so it might be a correlation and not causation.

[@raymj3589]

Proud Nyiyaparli woman here from the Pilbara WA region ... Been a big fan of the show for a while ,great information and so good to use as educational background noise while being busy . I am ecstatic that PBS Eons showcased a wonderful part of Australian history.☺️

[@grumpyaustralian6631]

Now I know it was stated that we dont know if the first people of Arnhem land encountered diprotodon due to their distribution but, it is probably still worth mentioning that there is some Diprotodon fossils with distinct butchering marks that have been found outside of arnhem land, which suggests that atleast some of the people that moved on from the northern parts of australia 40-65 thousand years ago did infact encounter and even eat atleast some diprotodons. I understand that it isn't (necessarily) art or arnhemland related and therefore was skipped over but, it seems important to mention when talking about ancient aboriginal interactions with megafauna like diprotodon as archeoligical evidence suggests we migrated across the entire nation very quickly after settling in arnhem land, Anceint aboriginal peoples likely encountered all of the megafauna that lived in australia collectively and did infact create ancient artwork in the form of paintings and carvings depicting alot of the fauna the individual groups encountered in sacred places and caves across the entire continent, and thus could have been tied in in to the video. That said I do understand that 10 minute video's do far better on youtube and you guys have covered alot of information here, love the channel and the amount of effort/research you put in to every one of these video's.

[@mxtw7910]

Thanks for this comment, it lead me to some interesting research. Are you talking about the markings on the incisor though? Because this looks to have been recently corrected after years of thinking the marks were man-made: “Microscopic examination of each mark alongside zooarchaeological and ecological data found that the incisions were not made by human hands but instead by a small 2-5kg mammal, most likely a quoll. Dr Langley worked alongside Vertebrate Palaeontology Collection Manager Tim Ziegler from Museums Victoria to analyse the tooth. She used a high precision stereomicroscope to examine and measure marks across the entire surface of the Diprotodon tooth, which were found to have a wavy, undulating trajectory. Such marks are inconsistent with those left by stone tools. Dr Langley then compared the marks with those that could have been left by a number of native species known for scavenging and gnawing, such as quolls and Tasmanian devils, and those on remains known to be used by Aboriginal people for tools, such as kangaroos and possums. By overlaying the cutting pattern of each set of teeth against photographs of the Diprotodon tooth and assessing how many of the incisions could be accounted for by the least number of successive bites, it was determined that almost all of the 29 incisions could be accounted for by the upper jaw of the spotted-tailed quoll in just three successive bites.”

[@grumpyaustralian6631]

@@mxtw7910 for some reason youtube only just notified me about this comment, sorry about the late reply. I was infact not referring to the tooth but a rib bone with a circular hole cut in to it and some cuts on vertabrae, I probably should have specified that part but my comment was already exceedingly long. "A rib bone shows a circular puncture mark believed to have been made by a human spear, and two vertebrae have cut-like marks that may be evidence of butchering." -Australian Museum I honestly can't find much more than this quote, but you may have more luck.

[@MrTradewolf]

Bravo. My thoughts exactly.

[@mariar-v7128]

I'm three years too late but Aboriginals clearly came in contact with the megafauna and the timing of their extinction fits (Aboriginals came about 50k years ago, megafauna died out about 40k years ago, due to climate but also likely hunting given impact of native groups on megafauna in America).

[@Nicksloan91]

Thank you for the land acknowledgement at the end!

[@REIDAE]

nobody cares

[@KING7CANTONA]

@@REIDAE whattt???

[@bethwelsh8585]

Ahhh I was going to ask about the evidence found within the oral tradition but you answered my question about 1/2 through! It's amazing how the triangulation of art, science, and storytelling have come together to better complete the history of these unique animals of Australia. Thanks for another great episode.

[@Rukai]

The best thing about this video, aside the interesting fossils as always, is your recognition of the diversity among the tribes of Indigenous Australians occupying the land. Thank you

[@marshallmeinema3138]

eons is amazing in their acknowledgment of aboriginal histories of all cultures.

[@3452te]

I love watchin' vids 'bout the Aussie Megafauna. I have heard & read about giant horned turtles called Meiolania as they look like Ankylosaurs. of course Quinkana, Genyornis, & those big ol' marsupials. Great video by the way. :)

[@Deftonesdsm]

I literally just binged all Eons videos other day. Im so addicted to this kind of knowledge

[@epauletshark3793]

I'm doing that too! Again

[@lilyannrose]

Really appreciated the message at the end about how this archaeological evidence is often sourced, even today there’s not enough respect for the traditional land owners or land preservation Edit: grammar

[@radicalaria]

It was nice to see you acknowledge the traditional owners. I wasn't expecting to see it from a non-aussie channel but it is truly appreciated.

[@triffid0hunter]

Most Australians are too racist to acknowledge the previous custodians

[@moss-eating-oddity3612]

I don't expect to see it even from an aussie channel

[@pandapounce]

They actually do this for all indigenous peoples worldwide. And yeah, it's awesome.

[@SteelerzReignSupremeII]

​@pandapounce No they don't. Thet ne racist.

[@arjunvadrevu]

I said this in the last video and I’ll say it again. Thank you for acknowledging and respecting not just the history, but the actual land of indigenous peoples. We have centuries of colonialism and destruction to undo, but being able to give back, and least in the annals of history, stolen land starts the process of deconstructing systems of European oppression. That one slide at the end hopefully starts a conversation amongst your viewers that to appreciate the history of the land, we have to first respect the history of the people who were there before us. Then we can begin to talk about much needed socio-economic reparations.

[@ireneo4614]

If I could have loved this comment I would!! The dismissal of the complex language, culture, history and significant depth of knowledge held by the Aboriginal Nations, is not only disgraceful but also to our detriment. With the generous sharing of knowledge from Aboriginal Nations we are seeing advances in medical knowledge, astrophysics, and land management. There is so much more we could learn if attitudes would change, from mental health, to history, animal husbandry and farming to who knows what else?? I truly hope that we can not only change as a society, making meaningful reparations and preserving their sacred sites from further harm as well elevating our Aboriginal Nations to the respected honoured position they should be held in, but also that in doing so our entire nation could grow, and learn. We need to celebrate and respect the amazingly intricate and beautifully diverse cultures and peoples of the Aboriginal Nations, and incorporate respectfully the sharable parts of these cultures without stripping the people who it belongs to of their culture, and the right to keep the sacred, or sanitise it so we have the beauty without the people, to know and respect the land we live and walk on, but also the peoples who still are here and despite everything have managed to preserve their culture - the longest, oldest continuous culture on earth. Always was, Always will be, Aboriginal Land!

[@BatMan-xr8gg]

@Atheistrix This is why people are so divided, because of people like you. You did not have to abuse a person for stating their beliefs and feelings in a comment. You are just a very rude person.

[@enotsnavdier6867]

I'm assuming that you are Australian (apologies if I'm wrong), but this kind of thing completely holds true here in Canada. Its always saddening for me when I think of the rich and beautiful cultures that populated the Americas before the European invasion. There were approximately 100 million inhabitants of the Americas and in a few hundred years that population was cut down by around 90 PERCENT! Some of the most interesting cultures in history were utterly wiped out, and have little evidence of their existence today. It always makes me angry to hear government officials claim that they care about indigenous peoples and at the same time doing virtually nothing to help our First Nations communities. Our history of genocide and cruelty carries on today in the depressingly poor conditions of Native American reserves, and the many terrible hardships they continue to endure.

[@BatMan-xr8gg]

@@enotsnavdier6867 That is a very heartfelt comment there friend. I am Indigenous Australian and understand what the Europeans did to us. I have also meet Canadian Indians and they have told me their stories which is the same as all indigenous cultures. Thank you for understanding. Cheers Friend.

[@mariavalverde7369]

..."that is clearly a kangaroo" Me: _ _ ~

[@cerridianempire1653]

ikr it looks more like a wallaby

[@bumblingfool2211]

I had the same thought

[@couldntthinkofacoolname9608]

Go back and take a look. Takes a second to see past the other drawings, but it's definitely there

[@jamesfra1311]

First thing pop in my mind was a giant moa bird

[@hoidthings5728]

Praise Eons for that episode!!! ❤️

[@troyradford75]

Thankyou so much for this. Great to see Australian megafauna getting exposure along with Peter Trussler's amazing artwork. And most importantly acknowledging the first Australians as well. Keep up the great work Eons team.

[@fieldo85]

There is a site called Budj Bim in Victoria, where stone tools have been located beneath a lava flow that occurred ~30,000 years ago. It also has the first evidence of permanent human habitation in the world. The ancient aboriginal inhabitants setup a huge network of fish/eel traps on the river created by the lava flow. They eventually settled in stone huts/communities because the site was so productive. They had advanced aquaculture and were practicing agriculture thousands of years before agriculture sprouted in the fertile crescent.

[@James-kv6kb]

I don't think they would really know in Victoria they're not interested in history just protesting

[@doloreshernandez5452]

Thank you so much for giving recognition to the aboriginal people's of Australia!

[@cosmicwakes6443]

Dolores Hernadez The indigenous people of Southern Africa, the Quena, also need recognition and proves Africa is quite diverse.

[@Sikosm]

It made me feel emotional to see that!

[@cosmicwakes6443]

@@Sikosm The cave paintings of South africa is just as remarkable.

[@X7Maverick]

@@cosmicwakes6443 What indigenous? The Bantu killed them all, the Dutch & French SA are the only ones who actually made deals with the native tribes for land before the Bantu wiped them out and TRIED to do the same to the Dutch and French and failed. If you really want to pay respect to those native peoples you won't give their legacy to the tribe that enslaved and killed them.

[@veggieboyultimate]

Whether by climate change or human hunting, the megafauna of the Pleistocene will never be forgotten.

[@blastulae]

We can be sure it wasn't climate change, since Oz had undergone much bigger climatic changes many time before. Just as the naive megafauna of New Zealand, other oceanic islands, the Americas and Europe were wiped out by invasive humans, so too did large Australian marsupials and reptiles succumb to our ancestors.

[@nickmalachai2227]

Fun fact: by certain definitions, humans are also a type of pleistocene megafauna. We're abnormally large for our taxonomic categorization, and we're reasonably bigger than most living things.

[@LordChesalot]

@@blastulae that really is not true. The evidence is really mixed and in Europe it seems to be that it was loss of habit from climate rather than hunting that killed a lot of mega fanua. Humans aren't killing machines and it is most often destrotion of habit rather than hunting that kills species. Early societies simply weren't having that impact on the landscape.

[@think7299]

Until we go extinct of course. : /

[@newq]

@@blastulae I took an archaeology class last year and my professor was very adamant that the issue of whether or not the pleistocene megafaunal extinction was caused by humans is very much still up in the air. The biggest pieces of evidence, the timing of the extinctions occurring concurrent with or shortly after the arrival of humans, can also be just as easily explained by humans not moving into an area until the climate made it more favorable for them, so the megafauna may have been on the way out when people showed up.

[@hollyodii5969]

Megafauna is great! Australian megafauna is super great! Thank you Eons!

[@Mrf388]

Another PBS Eons out of the park. love it!

[@espartacogonzalez5429]

Thank you for the land acknowledgement!

[@dontask2421]

It's amazing to see that people of the past can communicate with people 20,000 years later and be understood.

[@ivanmolina5203]

Oh Australia You terrifying, man eating, megafauna having, beast of a continent I will never stop loving you for all you are

[@MrBlack0950]

I love how Steve has been an eonite since the beginning. Like, someone name steve has been supporting them since the start, and its great.

[@TheRealFlenuan]

Another brilliant testament to the power of human recording of information to illuminate our distant past

[@ShirinRose]

I've been hoping for a video on Australian megafauna for so long! Thanks Eons for a great video 😄

[@SilverDawnArrow]

When I was very young I had an animal picture book and the kangaroo's huge feet terrified me for some reason. An even bigger kangaroo would be frankly horrifying

[@sugarnads]

Youre right to be scared. They can gut you.

[@icedcat4021]

They can what...

[@beastmaster0934]

@@sugarnads They can also break your ribs with one kick.

[@FleshWizard69420]

​@@icedcat4021yeah stay away from the males, especially during mating season

[@Firedeath25]

Ancient Art is always so cool to see and examine... I have a lot of respect for a person who could get a rock wall to look half as good most of those paintings!

[@usel1500]

It would be really cool if you had some guest Indigenous Australia science communicators on when talking about things like this.

[@letmemakeafuckingque]

It's absolutely insane how long humans have lived in Australia

[@Tiri_the_takehe]

Hey PBS, a small correction. Early in the video you have a migration route showing humans arriving in New Zealand. The date of arrival for the Maori is around 1000 years ago, no where near the 65000 migrations of the first people of australia! Definitely not part of the same migration wave.

[@garethtudor836]

Genetic evidence indicates that the Polynesian peoples might have originated in Taiwan

[@eddieoreilly9391]

Gareth Tudor When I was in Taiwan’s Taroko Gorge National Park a few years ago i was told as well as the genetic proof there was also linguistic and cultural evidence the T’ruku people of east Taiwan were the original source of the Polynesian migration. Starting around 4-5000 years ago, spreading east all the way over to Easter Island, with a group somewhere around the Cook Islands breaking tradition heading west instead and ending up in NZ around 1200. Polynesian not Melanesian. The native people are still there, looking distinctly different to the majority chinese population. Had one of the best seafood lunches of my life in a beachside restaurant run by a group of them. They honestly look like scaled down maoris :-) An interesting part of the human journey I didn’t know about.

[@emilchandran546]

The map only shows the rough routes taken by humans to reach each part of the globe, it doesn’t contain any information about dates or waves. If it did it would need to be much more detailed. The narration specified the estimated date of migration to Australia but neither the map nor the narration suggest that New Zealand was settled at the same time or in the same wave as Australia. I don’t think a correction is necessary.

[@oliverwilson11]

The Austronesian migration into central Polynesia did go via Papua and the Solomon Islands, so I think the map is correct.

[@TheRealFlenuan]

@@garethtudor836 Also linguistic and archaeological evidence Though, it's possible that some of the Proto-Austronesians set out straight from eastern China without first stopping in Formosa (Taiwan), and so the lack of Austronesian languages or associated DNA in mainland China in recorded history would be due to population replacement by (ancestors of) Han Chinese (which is known to have happened to Hmong-Mien and Kra-Dai populations as well). This would also be mean that Proto-Austronesian was spoken on the mainland and the surviving Formosan languages are perhaps paraphyly from separate seaward migrations.

[@danerdnerdos7384]

I am so grateful for this channel. It's wonderful having free access to an insight of natural history. Getting me through a really rough time right now. Thanks PBS!

[@gg3675]

The sheer quantity of distinct cultures mentioned at the end is astonishing.

[@gyozakeynsianism]

We saw a documentary recently (BTW subscribe to PBS on Amazon Prime, guys!) about the first landing of humans in Australia. It was just so amazing ... we were completely in awe of how old the settlements and art were (50k years ago!), and how the Aborigines' dealt with the geographic isolation from the rest of humanity. So interesting. This video just adds to all that.

[@finchalienoverlord9341]

I love learning about prehistoric Australia (and Africa) I really hope we get more of those types of videos.👀

[@domenicfieldhouse5644]

I went to Arnhem land for the indigenous German festival, it was a really cool experience

[@rolandorodriguez4504]

The fact that Africa had lots of kingdoms and empires will probably shock you.

[@chironOwlglass]

No matter what is going on in my life, your videos always get me out of my head. Thanks so much for what you do.

[@Xeroxthebeautiful]

I wrote a research paper on this topic for my university anthropology corse last year it was pretty fun to research

[@donnycooksey2032]

Keep in mind that these drawings look bad today because they’re so old, just imagine how they looked the day they were drawn.

[@Mitchmeow]

Precisely. Imagine what the Mona Lisa would look like if somebody left her outside in Australia for 20,000 years

[@Jesse__H]

It seems likely to me that some of them were very colorful as well. At least for a while, anyway. It's not hard to find colorful compounds in nature to rub on a drawing, I'm sure early peoples sometimes did it.

[@cosmicwakes6443]

@@Mitchmeow These drawings show that these people were actually studying their environment, they were proto scientists.

[@donnycooksey2032]

Da Vinci’s of their time

[@tsopmocful1958]

@@cosmicwakes6443 All people directly reliant on the land study their emvironment, but that doesn't make them scientists - 'proto' or otherwise. Please look up the definition of 'science' and 'scientists' and perhaps also look up 'Thales of Miletus' to find out WHY he is often considered to be 'the first scientist'.

[@michaelmisanik9787]

Such an awesome video about Australia's Mega fauna. I hope you guys will end up doing some more episodes covering the unique wildlife of Pleistocene Australia. Maybe one that covers Megalania and some of the other massive reptiles that lived on the continent.

[@tubeyhamster]

Fascinating episode. Thank you, Eons!

[@matthewk2175]

Thanks for giving a shoutout to the indigenous Australians at the end ❤️

[@useodyseeorbitchute9450]

It would be brave had she gave in one video shoutout to the indigenous Europeans...

[@matthewk2175]

Use Bitchute indigenous Europeans are just... Europeans

[@miaa7968]

@@useodyseeorbitchute9450 hahahahahaha cry more

[@useodyseeorbitchute9450]

@@miaa7968 I don't "cry", I actually enjoy the late phase of this debacle. I just point out that their virtue signaling is based on complete hypocrisy.

[@rickcolombo]

Wow, as a human sciences student (mainly psychology, but also anthropology), thank you guys so much for the disclaimer about aboriginal peoples from Australia. Awesome video, as always, even more with the acknowledgement of the traditional rights of aboriginal people from Australia with their land. We have to start recognize the colonialist and genocidal role that science unfortunately played in its early stages, and still do nowadays. There can be no real progress if we leave our ethics behind.

[@James-kv6kb]

Typical University student yap yap yap but don't say anything lol

[@ewanobrien50]

Says a man who I'm betting isn't tertiary educated. And perhaps lacks the capacity for such.😅

[@xxmessymindxx1303]

Yay, I loved it, as always! I hope we see more videos about marsupials in the future!

[@deanmurtagh7286]

Thanks for making an episode on Aus !!! We really appreciate it

[@maxplanck9055]

Thank you all the people at PBS who provide these interesting and informative videos that are still educating me about nature and history.ive been watching for the past few years with interest. I've been intrigued at times with the stories and would happily fund anthropology and paleontology if I could. Subjects I love, thanks PBS for offering an easy way to become knowledgeable in an amateurish way👍❤️🇬🇧

[@brianschmidt5645]

Acknowledging Indigenous people at the end of the video was an important, well-done touch. Failing to acknowledge that human arrival to Australia tens of thousands of years ago was one of the likely causes of megafaunal extinctions, however, wasn't well done. Modern Indigenous people have no responsibility for what those other people did, and the failure to mention it when discussing extinctions reduced the scientific value of the video. The rest of the video was really informative.

[@salemsaberhagan]

I feel like it's a very difficult balancing game. On the one hand, distinctions between modern day humans exist due to historically unequal relationships between us. Whether current people agree with those inequalities or not doesn't change the fact that those differences still exist. But on the other hand, we are all also the same single species that wiped out hundreds of thousands of other animal species all over the world, intentionally or not. It's hard to acknowledge both facts at once but reality is rarely considerate of such emotional difficulties our petty human brains have.

[@gehtdichnichtsan5211]

I was thinking the same. Unklikely that Australia is the only place where the extinction of most of the megafauna following arrival of humans is a coincidence.

[@21LAZgoo]

50 out of 88 of the australian megafauna species died out 65000 years before humans even arrived, and the ones that didn’t die out at that time coexisted with humans for 20000 years, and then once it started to become more arid and water became scarce those remaining species quickly die off

[@FrogPondering]

I remember dude asking for this video so long ago

[@michaelmeining889]

That was me haha

[@chandlerjsharp]

And me 😁

[@michaelmeining889]

@@chandlerjsharp best topic

[@bumblingfool2211]

@@gasdive what do you mean by gee wizz and Noble savage?

[@guitarguydanny2588]

This was a fantastic episode! Thank you!

[@azteclady]

I absolutely adore these videos. I do wish that there was audio narration for the acknowledgment of the Aboriginal peoples on whose lands fossils have been found, to make it accessible.

[@pattymcpattyhaha]

Thank you for acknowledging all the first nations heritage involved in this video. You are far superior to many other productions even some that are based locally.

[@lineandersen3329]

Yes! I've been wanting and asking for a video of life in Australia during the last ice age and now it's here! 😁

[@cigskill101]

So glad you gave a shout out to the aboriginals!

[@oni-ikari2596]

Finally something on Australia thank you pbs eons

[@ryankassel5691]

Wow, I have never seen an acknowledgement to native people. That was really cool to see. Thank you

[@tired1923]

its fascinating and also terrifying to think australia used to be even more full of deadly animals

[@Leomoon101]

This was so needed.

[@suchomimustenerensis]

Do a video on the weird and wonderful dinosaurs of the isle of wright

[@limerence8365]

These photo-realistic representations are amazing. I don't know if you guys hired some new artists or someone got a new opportunity to try their stuff but they really are fantastic!

[@adhvithnambiar3743]

You guys are just fantastic!! From your presentation to your research. It's just top notch stuff. LOVE hour content.🙏

[@DIEKALSTER8]

This is really a fantastic channel. Can't even think of a way to improve it. Always super interesting and I love the thumbnail art!

[@JP-sm4cs]

Natives: Hey mr old timey Victorian explorer. Come check out this cave in our area with paintings of prehistoric animals! Victorian Explorer: Wow! I have made a major paleontological discovery! Natives: But, we showed you it... Victorian Explorer: Yes! I have made this discovery!

[@carriertaiyo2694]

Victorian: and no one has ever seen it before! Native: um... what?

[@X7Maverick]

Oh yeah, that's why we still communicate with cave paintings. Clearly recording things with written language has no bearing on our ability to record what happened during that time. We type in hieroglyphics and not a colonial language.

[@RedRocket4000]

Oh they might have not mentioned the trible name but most accounts of back then I have read mention the tribes dealt with after all reporting on the natives was part of the process. Now later investigation after tribes maybe removed might not mention things and later visits might not have given tribe credit or ask permission to return to the sites. I am mainly referring to rock art that certainly was shown to the explorers or the explorers asked the locals about. Fosils found that the natives were unaware existed but found on tribeal lands without permission a different subject. This not a failure to credit discovery the natives were unaware it a failure to ask to be there and give credit to tribe for permission.

[@user-lq4ct6dr5m]

Lol it reminds me that kangaroo means “ What kind of language you’re saying ? “ in native language

[@JP-sm4cs]

@@X7Maverick what's your point?

[@OrbitOnceAround]

I misread the title of the videos as “How Ancient Artists Captured Australian Marijuana”

[@davidhanson4909]

Free range weed is the best.

[@MrAranton]

Marijuana might explain some of the weirder pictures, and since the weird pictures exist they do capture Australian Marijuna (or some equivalent)... I know that is circular reasoning, but your misreading is so funny is just has to be right in fashion...

[@hero314]

Hello friends 🍁

[@Keznen]

@hero314 Oh, a Canadian! When will the maple sap be ready for collecting?

[@nicholasrandell2310]

I really like the info-sheet you put at the end. Reading it out would be great to help viewers with pronunciation too!

[@teganufer]

Amazing video. I always love when Australia is included.

[@_Opal_Miner_]

Imagine all the stuff that has been submerged since the last glacial maximum.

[@MadComputerScientist]

Awesome vid! Cool to see how far back "recorded" history goes, even when the fossil record is sparse. ^_^

[@SoleaGalilei]

True! People in many lands drew what they saw in nature long before they could write descriptions of it. That's just as much a part of recorded history as written records.

[@timothyriley6754]

Australia has always been at the top of my bucket list Love to go there someday

[@Tangrowth_Fan]

Fishing here is golden 😏👌

[@emems6620]

Clicked so fast!!! Love your content and narration 🇮🇹

[@watchdealer11]

Last time I was this early, this rock art was still drying

[@guyh.4553]

No, I don't like what Eons does... I LOVE IT! I await every new episode that comes out. You guys rock it! (Pun not intended & then it was intended!) Ha ha ha

[@yuuiuu11]

I have been waiting for an ep on Australian megafauna! Now more people will discover what awesome creatures roamed this continent.

[@sealyoness]

OMG, TREMORS??? One of my favorite campy movies, the kind you break out the soda and popcorn and everybody sits around in their socks and sweats and throws popcorn at the worms!!! YES! Thanks!

[@nataliaromero9932]

The acknowledgement section was on point! Congratulations!👌

[@InfectedChris]

"Back in my day, we had 20 foot tall kangaroos that would kill ya if you so looked at their pouches"

[@DeRien8]

So excited to see a plug for the PBS American Portrait project! I always forget to go to their website to check on it, but I'm always on KZbin anyway

[@pingosimon]

Major props for the shout-out to indigenous peoples at the end. And that aside, this has been my favorite Eons episode... well... Ever, I think!

[@Dai5tr0y3r]

I rarely like videos, I feel like i have to be impressed by a video to give the thumbs up. The end of this video is what truly impressed me (WATCH IT ALL)

[@MaddoxLightning]

Thank you for acknowledging the people who have tended and still tend the lands featured in this and other looks at their lineage's art and history. Consent and recognition are so important.

[@scrappyfu]

Great episode!

[@cratisk6537]

Good job, this video really kept me more entertained then from what my teacher teaches to me everytime, I was surprised this video was 10x better then my classes, keep up the good work

[@fireheadmx]

These videos are the highlight of my week. Thank you for helping me stay sane through this annus horribilis .

[@LoraCoggins]

The short-faced kangaroo sort of reminds me of Dr. Seuss's "The Cat in the Hat", especially its single-toed feet.

[@koterre]

Thank you for starting to acknowledge native/aboriginal peoples and their lands.

[@philforbes8671]

Round of applause to the Eons team for the recognition of the traditional owners ❤️ 👏

[@James-kv6kb]

It's not like it doesn't happen every bloody day in Australia even though half of it is bulshit

[@artofescapism]

do there happen to be any animated recreations of how Procoptodon got around? I'm having a hard time imagining a giant kangaroo 'striding' without seeing it. fantastic video, and thank you for acknowledging the indigenous people of the area- so often, they are left out of the conversation entirely, and we need to change that.

[@mangolence8218]

Everytime there’s a video of megafauna I am fascinated

[@batlikinan3229]

Love the diprotodon. Did a whole art assignment on it for uni

[@cyrilio]

Australia s indigenous art is so under appreciated

[@Shasen589]

Does Arnhem Land attract enough people to appreciate aboriginal art? As someone who studies in Australia, I find their art fascinating. But also their bush Tucker.

[@creepygallery3303]

Awesome video guys. I'm lucky enough to own a Procoptodon jaw bone, It is often mistaken by people as a human jaw bone.