Major Megafauna Mystery Solved? Humans Really Did Drive Ancient Giants to Extinction

Prehistoric humans hunt a woolly mammoth. A growing body of research shows that this species—and at least 46 other megaherbivores—were driven to extinction by humans. (Source: Engraving by Ernest Grise, photographed by William Henry Jackson. Courtesy Getty’s Open Content Program) AARHUS, Denmark — Imagine a world where elephants roamed Europe, giant ground sloths lumbered across … Read more

The evidence is mounting: humans were responsible for the extinction of large mammals

Prehistoric humans hunt a woolly mammoth. Mounting evidence suggests that this species, and at least 46 other megaherbivores, were driven to extinction by humans. Credit: Engraving by Ernest Grise, photographed by William Henry Jackson. Getty’s Open Content Program The debate has raged for decades: was it humans or climate change that caused many species of … Read more

Bizarre egg-laying mammals once ruled Australia, but then lost their teeth

Enlarge / The echidna, an egg-laying mammal, does not develop teeth. Outliers among mammals, monotremes lay eggs instead of producing live young. Only two species of monotremes still exist, the platypus and the echidna, but about 100 million years ago there were more monotreme species. Some of them may be even stranger than their descendants. … Read more