Humans were responsible for the extinction of large mammals

[Gaia]

This is sad to read about, but unfortunately not surprising. I've suspected it all along...

"The debate has raged for decades: Was it humans or climate change that led to the extinction of many species of large mammals, birds, and reptiles that have disappeared from Earth over the past 50,000 years?

By "large," we mean animals that weighed at least 45 kilograms, known as megafauna. At least 161 species of mammals were driven to extinction during this period. 

The largest of them were hit the hardest — the megaherbivores, land-dwelling herbivores weighing over a ton. Fifty thousand years ago, there were 57 species of megaherbivores. Today, only 11 remain.

A research group at Aarhus University in Denmark now concludes that many of these vanished species were hunted to extinction by humans."

Full article: https://phys.org/news/2024-07-evidence-mounting-humans-responsible-extinction.html

[Simon]

Like you said, this is hardly surprising. But it's good to get reminded now and then about the profound impact we as humans has on this planet, its nature and all its living things.