 | New research adds to evidence that humans were responsible for the extinction of megafauna such as woolly mammoths and sabre-toothed cats. Previous research argued that human hunting pushed large mammals to start disappearing earlier and faster than smaller ones – a phenomenon called size-based extinction – in Australia around 35,000 years ago. The latest study is claiming that this size-based extinction started in Africa at least 125,000 years ago. |  |
Cave bear | As humans migrated out of Africa, the average mammal size in the newly occupied continents started to shrink, often to sizes even smaller than those found in Africa.
A clear pattern emerged – the animals that survived tended to be smaller than those that did not. From a life-history standpoint, it makes sense. If you kill a rabbit, you’re going to feed your family for a day. If you can kill a large mammal, you’re going to feed your entire village for a week. |  Cave Lion |
