论文标题：New dates on dingo bones from Madura Cave provide oldest frm evidence for arrival of the species in Australia

期刊：Scientific Reports

作者：Jane Balme, Sue O’Connor & Stewart Fallon

发表时间： 2018/07/19

数字识别码：10.1038/s41598-018-28324-x

原文链接：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-28324-x?utm_source=Other_website&utm_medium=Website_links&utm_content=RenLi-Nature-Scientific_Reports-Environment-China&utm_campaign=SCIREP_USG_JRCN_RL_dingo_sciencenet_article_1st_Aug

微信链接：https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/b0TJwjpr9NUZvn-Qk-1oWQ

根据《科学报告》发表的一项研究New dates on dingo bones from Madura Cave provide oldest frm evidence for arrival of the species in Australia，澳洲野狗可能在3,348至3,081年前抵达澳洲南部，晚于此前预期。

澳洲野狗。图源：Pixabay

西澳大利亚大学的Jane Balme、Sue O’Connor和Stewart Fallon采用直接加速器质谱测年技术（AMS）——一种精确的放射碳测年技术——测定来自澳洲南部纳拉伯平原马杜拉穴（Madura Cave）内的两只澳洲野狗的趾尖骨样本的年份。结果发现，澳洲野狗在澳洲南部出现的时间可能是3,348至3,081年前，晚于此前预期——5,000-4,000年前。

由于澳洲和东南亚之间并无陆桥连接，因此澳洲野狗不太可能独立于人类抵达澳洲。这一发现意味着澳洲野狗可能作为澳洲原住民的陪伴动物，随船抵达澳洲。因此，它们的存在可被视为澳大利亚大陆以外人类到访该地的证据。澳洲野狗与人类的关系使它们能够以比此前预期更快的速度在澳洲扩散，这也就意味着需要调整过去关于澳洲野狗何时抵达澳洲的预估。

作者认为由于澳洲野狗抵达澳洲可能与大量其它物种（包括袋狼）的灭绝有关，因此更准确地理解它们抵达澳洲的时间具有重要意义。

摘要：The dingo is the only placental land mammal aside from murids and bats to have made the water crossings to reach Australia prior to European arrival. It is thought that they arrived as a commensal animal with people, some time in the mid Holocene. However, the timing of their arrival is still a subject of major debate with published age estimates varying widely. This is largely because the age estimates for dingo arrival are based on archaeological deposit dates and genetic divergence estimates, rather than on the dingo bones themselves. Currently, estimates vary from between 5000–4000 years ago, for finds from archaeological contexts, and as much as 18,000 based on DNA age estimates. The timing of dingo arrival is important as post arrival they transformed Indigenous societies across mainland Australia and have been implicated in the extinction of a number of animals including the Tasmanian tiger. Here we present the results of direct dating of dingo bones from their oldest known archaeological context, Madura Cave on the Nullarbor Plain. These dates demonstrate that dingoes were in southern Australia by between 3348 and 3081 years ago. We suggest that following their introduction the dingo may have spread extremely rapidly throughout mainland Australia.

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 （来源：科学网）