Echoes of Extinctions: Novel Method Unearths Ecosystem Disruptions
Their novel approach showed how mammal traits evolved with changing environments and revealed factors that contributed to biodiversity loss.
While most species have gone extinct, eastern Africa is home to vibrant natural communities of mammalian megafauna, including elephants, zebras, hippopotamuses, antelope, giraffes, and many others.
Sep 07, 2023
Large-bodied mammals play crucial roles in ecosystems. They create habitats, serve as prey, help plants thrive, and even influence how wildfires burn. But now, fewer than half of the large mammal species that were alive 50,000 years ago exist today, and those that remain are threatened with extinction from intensifying climate change and human activities.