Sahul (/səˈhuːl/), also calledSahul-land,Meganesia,Papualand andGreater Australia,[1] was apaleocontinent that encompassed the modern-daylandmasses ofmainland Australia,Tasmania,New Guinea, and theAru Islands.[2][3][4][5][6]
Sahul was in the south-westernPacific Ocean, located approximately north to south between theEquator and the44th parallel south and west to east between the112th and the152nd meridians east.[2] Sahul was separated fromSunda to its west by theWallacean Archipelago.[2][7] At its largest, when ocean levels were at their lowest, it was approximately 10,600,000 square kilometres (4,100,000 sq mi) in size.[note 1][2]
Parts of Sahul repeatedly emerged and submerged throughout thePleistocene epoch, beginning around 2.6 million years ago.[8] Glacial cycles—initially paced at ~41,000 years and later at ~100,000 years—drove sea-level fluctuations of up to ~120 m.[9] Eachlowstand exposed the Sahul continental shelf, with reconstructions showing land connections dating back at least ~250,000 years ago, and likely much earlier.[10] The most recent rise in sea level, at the close of the last Ice Age, produced the modern configuration: New Guinea separated from mainland Australia about 8,000 years ago, and Tasmania about 6,000 years ago.[11]
Sahul hosted a large variety of unique fauna that changed independently from the rest of the world.[12] Most notably nearly allmammals on Sahul weremarsupials including a range ofbrowsers,burrowers,scavengers andpredators;bats and rodents represented the onlyplacental mammals.[12]
It is estimated humans first migrated to Sahul at least 65,000 years ago, making the ocean crossing from Sunda through Wallacea.[13] From Sahul humans spread throughoutOceania.[3]
The name Sahul is used by archeologists, and Meganesia tends to be used byzoogeographers.[4] The name Greater Australia has been used, and has been criticised as "cartographic imperialism" because it places greater emphasis upon what is now Australia at the expense of New Guinea.[6]
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