NewsPaleontologyHumans, not climate change, may have wiped out Australias giant kangaroosFossilized kangaroo teeth hint at varied diets, helping the animals weather climatic changes Simothenurus occidentalis (illustrated) was one of dozens of kangaroo species that went extinct by 40,000 years ago.Nobu Tamura (CC BY 3.0)By Carolyn Gramling1 hour agoThe demise of most of Australias kangaroo species by 40,000 years ago may have had less to do with climate-caused dietary pressures and more to do with human hunters.Dental analyses of ancient kangaroos reveal they werent such picky eaters as once thought, researchers report in the Jan. 10 Science. Instead, when it came to climate-related changes in food availability, the animals might have rolled with the punches, the scientists suggest.Between 65,000 and 40,000 years ago, more than 90 percent of Australias large animal species went extinct. Over half were kangaroos. The primary suspects behind these extinctions were thought to be human hunters, who had arrived sometime between 70,000 and 50,000 years ago, and rapid changes in the climate, which may have dramatically reduced the animals dietary options.