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The Late Pleistocene saw the extinction of many mammals weighing more than 40 kilograms (88 lb), including around 80% of mammals over 1 tonne. The proportion of megafauna extinctions is progressively larger the further the human migratory distance from Africa, with the highest extinction rates in Australia, and North and South America. [11]
A marsupial lion skeleton in the Naracoorte Caves, South Australia. The term Australian megafauna refers to the megafauna in Australia [1] during the Pleistocene Epoch.Most of these species became extinct during the latter half of the Pleistocene, and the roles of human and climatic factors in their extinction are contested.
Megafauna also play a role in regulating and stabilizing the abundance of smaller animals. During the Pleistocene, megafauna were diverse across the globe, with most continental ecosystems exhibiting similar or greater species richness in megafauna as compared to ecosystems in Africa today.
It is possible that this species gave rise to the modern form some time during the early Holocene, however due to the timing of this size decrease it is thought that the changes were not a direct response to the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna. † La Brea black vulture [99] [100] [71] † Coragyps occidentalis
Africa is highly biodiverse; it is the continent with the largest number of megafauna species, as it was also largely affected by the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna. However, many species have disappeared from Africa as part of the ongoing Holocene extinction, driven by human activity.
Prehistoric animals of the Pleistocene epoch, existing between 2.58 million and 11.7 thousand years ago, during the early Quaternary Period of the Cenozoic Era
At the end of the last ice age, cold-blooded animals, smaller mammals like wood mice, migratory birds, and swifter animals like whitetail deer had replaced the megafauna and migrated north. Late Pleistocene bighorn sheep were more slender and had longer legs than their descendants today. Scientists believe that the change in predator fauna ...
The Late Pleistocene was the time when most animals evolved to resemble modern-day animals and they managed to live through the Late mid-Pleistocene since there were no extinction events of megafauna until the end of the Late Pleistocene. [13]