The global climate during Pleistocene, from 1.8 million years ago until 10.000 years ago, alternated repeatedly between hot periods and cold phases when ice covered much of the world’s land masses. An adaptation frequently found among fauna during these glacial periods is an increase in size – when a living being becomes bigger, its volume which is where the body generates heat, grows more quickly than its surface through which this heat is dissipated – this is the age of Megafauna, time of an incredibly diverse and fascinating set of large mammals species, which are now extinct! Among most iconic species are the mammoth and woolly rhino (Eurasia), the dire-wolf , the saber-toothed cat Smilodon and the Americal lion (North America), the cave bear and the short-faced bear, giant marsupials (Australia), the giant deer, etc. This was precisely the world that Homo Sapiens stepped into as we spread beyond Africa, all the way to America. Had we never appeared, would those now-missing mammals still be here? And will they ever be back?
Except Africa, where humans and Megafauna evolved together, and African animals had the chance to adjust as our presence increased, learning how to be wary of us and evolving in ways to elude us, the Megafauna on the other continents was totally taken by surprise by the new invasive species, hunting in groups, mastering the fire and the tools to hunt them from a safety distance!
Today we can only see remnants of this lost world in natural science museums. But will one day some of these species be resurrected with the help of modern gene technology and biotechnology, which are progressing so incredibly fast? And where would they fit on a planet populated by almost 7.7 bn people today? The idea of a Jurassic kind of Park, but with mammoths instead of dinosaurs, appeals to many scientists (and businessmen), even if for curiosity, to push the limits of creation and see how far they can get (or for fame or profit)…Let’s see (I recommend an excellent book for who wants to learn more: Torill Kornfeldt‘s The re-Origin of Species)!
In the meantime, we can learn from history and make sure we won’t drive into extinction other species or the entire ecosystem we rely upon, to be wise enough to stop the Holocene 6th mass species extinction (also known as Anthropocene extinction or Quaternary extinction event), that we humans started with Megafauna, and continues with today Wildlife species at accelerated speed!