Not Climate Change but Humans Are Responsible for Extinction of Giant Mammals in the Last 50,000 Years
The Earth’s ancient landscapes were once dominated by an incredible array of megafauna—giant mammals, birds, and reptiles that roamed freely across continents. Fifty thousand years ago, there were 57 species of megaherbivores. Today, only 11 remain, and these survivors have also seen significant declines in their populations. While it has long been believed that climate change and environmental shifts were the primary drivers of these extinctions, new evidence points to a different culprit: human intervention. The extinction crisis, which saw at least 161 species of large mammals driven to extinction, is now increasingly attributed to human activities. Researchers from the Danish National Research Foundation's Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO) at Aarhus University have presented compelling evidence that humans played a central role in these extinctions through extensive hunting practices. During the late Pleistocene epoch, which spanne...
