In a new paper to be published in the prestigious international journal Science, a team of 11 researchers from Australia, France and the United States said they have studied 28 sites across the continent to determine the date the creatures became extinct, The Australian national newspaper said. The Sydney Morning Herald newspapers carried a similar report.
Researchers disagree on where Australia's Aborigines originated.
The research team, led by Richard Roberts of the University of Melbourne and Tim Flannery of the South Australian Museum, used several methods to date the sites containing fossilised remains of up to 55 prehistoric species.