Study: The elephants will disappear, the giraffes on earth will be just the cows
(8 years ago)Cows can remain the largest mammals on earth in a few centuries, according to a new study examining the disappearance of large mammals as people populate every corner of the globe. The spread of humanity and the species attached to such as Neanderthals, from Africa, thousands of years ago, coincided with the disappearance of megaphauna like the Mamoth, the toothless tigers [...]
Cows can remain the largest mammals on earth in a few centuries, according to a new study examining the disappearance of large mammals as people populate every corner of the globe.
The spread of mankind and the species attached to such as Neanderthals, from Africa, thousands of years ago coincided with the disappearance of megaphauna like the Mamoth, sharp tigers, and gliptodons, a creature similar to the armadillo, but the size of a car.
“People targeted large meat species, while smaller creatures like rodents saved” are highlighted in the report that examines the tendency over 125 thousand years. In North America, the average body mass of mammals has been reduced to 7.6kg from the 22 pounds [98 kg] when people arrived.
If the trend continues, the largest mammal on earth in several hundred years may be a domestic cow about 900kg, researchers write. And that means that elephants, giraffes, and hippos would be lost. In March, in fact, the last man on earth died in Kenya.
However, other reports cast doubt on the continued reduction of mammals, in part because of efforts to ward off threats to wildlife such as climate change, loss of forest habitats, pollution, and expanding cities.
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