October 3, 2018 — The Institute of Zoology in London has recently made a groundbreaking discovery that is reshaping scientific understanding. Humans may have inhabited the island of Madagascar 6,000 years earlier than previously believed—some 10,500 years ago. The evidence was uncovered on the fossilized remains of elephant birds.

New Clues on Elephant Bird Bones

Researchers at the Institute of Zoology in London, led by Dr. James Hansford, have "redated" human activity in Madagascar. Butchery marks on elephant bird bones provided the key evidence. The cuts and fractures on the fossils indicate that these giant birds were hunted and butchered. Natural damage has been ruled out, even though no hunting tools were found near the excavation site. The connection became clear when comparing the shape and position of these cuts with:

• Contemporary butchery marks on emus (large flightless birds from Australia, physically similar to elephant birds),
• Butchery marks previously identified on other prehistoric Malagasy fossils.

These are clean incisions without cracking, indicating the use of a sharp object handled by human hands. Moreover, they were inflicted around the time of the bird's death. Using carbon-14 dating, scientists determined the fossils to be 10,500 years old. Previous studies of lemur bones had suggested that humans colonized Madagascar between 2,400 and 4,000 years ago. The research findings were published in Science Advances in September 2018. Dr. Patricia Wright, co-author of the study and researcher at New York University, stated in a press release that this discovery completely overturns our understanding of when the first humans arrived on the island.

Humans Exonerated in the Extinction of Megafauna?

It's important to note that research dating the first human activities on the island was primarily conducted on lemur fossils. During prehistoric times, Madagascar was home to a megafauna consisting of giant lemurs, hippopotamuses, giant tortoises, and giant birds—the genera aepyornis and mullerornis, the latter being smaller. These have not been extensively studied, and apparently for good reason. This discovery about the elephant bird leads to another conclusion: humans may not be responsible for the extinction of this species. Indeed, megafauna and humans may have coexisted for millennia, as these giant animals gradually disappeared over the last 1,000 years. However, since sites of human occupation multiplied during this same period (the last millennium), it's reasonable to consider that megafauna extinction is linked to human presence. This parallels what happened with the moa of New Zealand (large flightless birds), which disappeared 150 years after the colonization of the Pacific region.

If humans coexisted with megafauna for thousands of years, why couldn't we coexist with what remains of our wildlife today?

Fauna and Flora History Travel Charlène Nomadays — SEO writer and early contributor at Nomadays, Charlène evolved into content manager and head of communications, steering the adventure with passion and dedication from the very beginning. After spending seven years across Asia—from China to Thailand, through Mongolia and South Korea—she has made travel a way of being in the world. A lover of words, nature, and human connection, she strives to convey in her writing a thoughtful, engaged, and responsible vision of tourism. For her, each article is a bridge between curiosity, respect, and wonder.