After the research done by scientists, found that due to human activity large mammal species went extinct 50,000 years ago. It was earlier considered that climate change is responsible for the extinction of animals from Earth.
Over the past few centuries, approximately 161 species of large animals, encompassing mammals, reptiles, and birds, have disappeared. These creatures, collectively known as megafauna, include species that weigh at least 45 kilograms (around 100 pounds).
The loss of these significant animals has had profound impacts on ecosystems around the world. Megafauna plays crucial roles in their environments, from shaping vegetation patterns and dispersing seeds to regulating populations of other species.
Their extinction was considered due to the factors of climate change but according to recent studies, the real reason is human activities like hunting, habitat destruction, and poaching. This disrupts ecological balance, making them extinct.
Aarhus University researchers from the Danish National Research Foundation's Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO) have revealed that climate change was responsible during the last interglacial and glacial periods that was between 130,000 and 11,000 years ago.
However, the findings suggest that there is more to be revealed that there is a distinct component that might have a more significant effect on the larger animals.
Professor Jens-Christian Svenning, the lead author of the article explained in the statement that "The large and very selective loss of megafauna over the last 50,000 years is unique over the past 66 million years," he says. "Another significant pattern that argues against a role for climate is that the recent megafauna extinctions hit just as hard in climatically stable areas as in unstable areas," he further added to his statement.
Scientists then focused towards animal hunting and supported it as an important factor for the extinction. There is a discovery of large traps and analyses of ancient human bones and the presence of protein in them proves the scientist's claims.
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