Ancient Humans Are The Reason Big Mammals Are Extinct And Mammals Have Shrunk

19 April 2018, 9:53 pm EDT By Jean-Pierre Chigne Tech Times

The size of mammals has shrunk significantly over the last 125,000 years. A new study finds that the blame is entirely on humans for having caused the reduction in the size of mammals.

Humans changed the size of mammals, and it wasn't just by hunting them to extinction.

Big Mammals Decline
A new study by Felisa Smith of the University of New Mexico reveals ancients humans were the cause of the shrinking size of mammals. Smith's finding was published in the journal Science. They analyzed the fossils going back 65 million years to see what was the cause of the changing size of mammals.

She found that size didn't play a role in the survival of large mammals until humans showed up. Large and small mammals thrived for a time, and then humans changed the odds of survival. Smith found that when humans settled in a region, the chances of survival for large mammals dipped.

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