Figure 5: Temporal distribution of burnt Dromaius and Genyornis eggshell in collections from Western Australia. | Nature Communications

Figure 5: Temporal distribution of burnt Dromaius and Genyornis eggshell in collections from Western Australia.

From: Human predation contributed to the extinction of the Australian megafaunal bird Genyornis newtoni ∼47 ka

Figure 5

The lowest A/I in each collection is used to characterize the age of all fragments, to exclude fragments with accelerated racemization resulting from heating by cooking fires. (a) Percentage of all WA Dromaius collections that contain burnt eggshell, binned in 0.04 A/I units. (b) Percentage of all WA Genyornis collections that contain burnt eggshell binned in 0.04 A/I units. (c) Total number of WA Dromaius collections characterized by AAR and binned in 0.04 A/I units. (d) Total number of WA Genyornis collections characterized by AAR and binned in 0.04 A/I units. The percentage of collections containing burnt Genyornis eggshell (b) increases as the number of Genyornis collections (d) decreases, reflecting the difficulty of eliminating localized heating effects on the measured A/I. The likely extinction window for Genyornis is 0.54±0.04 A/I units. Isoleucine racemizes 16% faster in Dromaius eggshell relative to Genyornis28; the first appearance of burnt eggshell fragments is at the same age for both taxa. X axis scales are identical in all panels.

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