Giant wombats. Marsupial lions. Thunderbirds. Australia’s ancient landscapes were once home to massive megafauna creatures as strange as they were enormous. But around 40,000 years ago, they vanished.

In this episode, we explore the mystery behind their extinction. Was it climate change? Human hunting? Or something more complex? With new fossil evidence and evolving scientific theories, we dig into the clues that could finally solve one of Australia’s oldest cold cases — and what it might mean for the species at risk today.

Written and read by Cat Williams

For more science stories like this, visit particle.scitech.org.au.