An interesting theory I saw about the megafauna extinctions was that they were triggered by an unprecedented low CO2 level during the end of the last ice age that exceeded the ability of even grasses to cope with, causing ecological collapses around the planet that mostly impacted the largest animals.
The survival of megafauna on isolated islands like New Zealand and Madagascar until very recently (followed by rapid extinction due to human hunting) is a strong piece of evidence favouring human influence in historic extinctions.
Another point worth pointing out- some data suggests that the first waves of "modern" humans leaving Africa followed mostly coastal routes and were mostly specialised in gathering coastal seafood, and were pretty inefficient at hunting large terrestrial animals. This muddies any simple correlation of "earliest arrival of humans" with extinction events since it might matter which humans you are talking about.
I know that the point of your article isn’t to determine the “correct” theory of how the megafauna went extinct; however, there is potentially a third factor leading to the extinction of megafauna. The third factor could potentially be extinction due to, or accelerated by, cataclysms. The event or events of cataclysms are a theory put forth by various researchers in the field of catastrophism (if you are interested, I could point you in the direction of various researchers on this topic).
While I’m not going to go into that theory, I thought I would provide some examples of “mythologies” from indigenous cultures of Turtle Island that are, what I would argue, stories about actual cataclysms they witnessed. Some believe that these events are electrical in nature, which could potentially cause very rapid evolutionary changes (for instance, see how electric eels alter DNA). This could lead to entire species being wiped out if species are unable to “adapt” or handle the rapid change. Also, as the following stories show, many tribes, plants, ecosystems, and animals “went away” during the cataclysms. I know, if this all seems fanciful to you (I was once there too), it should. But, it’s a fascinating theory that I think helps us gain a better understanding of the history of earth.
An interesting theory I saw about the megafauna extinctions was that they were triggered by an unprecedented low CO2 level during the end of the last ice age that exceeded the ability of even grasses to cope with, causing ecological collapses around the planet that mostly impacted the largest animals.
The survival of megafauna on isolated islands like New Zealand and Madagascar until very recently (followed by rapid extinction due to human hunting) is a strong piece of evidence favouring human influence in historic extinctions.
Another point worth pointing out- some data suggests that the first waves of "modern" humans leaving Africa followed mostly coastal routes and were mostly specialised in gathering coastal seafood, and were pretty inefficient at hunting large terrestrial animals. This muddies any simple correlation of "earliest arrival of humans" with extinction events since it might matter which humans you are talking about.
Also, the electric eel article link:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/eels-can-genetically-modify-nearby-fish-with-their-electrical-pulses-180983422/
The order of my comments got messed up, please follow the number at the top of each comment, start at "1" 😂
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I know that the point of your article isn’t to determine the “correct” theory of how the megafauna went extinct; however, there is potentially a third factor leading to the extinction of megafauna. The third factor could potentially be extinction due to, or accelerated by, cataclysms. The event or events of cataclysms are a theory put forth by various researchers in the field of catastrophism (if you are interested, I could point you in the direction of various researchers on this topic).
While I’m not going to go into that theory, I thought I would provide some examples of “mythologies” from indigenous cultures of Turtle Island that are, what I would argue, stories about actual cataclysms they witnessed. Some believe that these events are electrical in nature, which could potentially cause very rapid evolutionary changes (for instance, see how electric eels alter DNA). This could lead to entire species being wiped out if species are unable to “adapt” or handle the rapid change. Also, as the following stories show, many tribes, plants, ecosystems, and animals “went away” during the cataclysms. I know, if this all seems fanciful to you (I was once there too), it should. But, it’s a fascinating theory that I think helps us gain a better understanding of the history of earth.