The abrupt climate warming that had such a negative impact on these animals is similar to the rapid man-made climate change that’s occurring today, according to the study, published in the journal Science.
“This abrupt warming had a profound impact on climate that caused marked shifts in global rainfall and vegetation patterns,” co-author Alan Cooper of the University of Adelaide and the Australian Center for Ancient DNA said in a press release.
He continued, “Even without the presence of humans we saw mass extinctions. When you add the modern addition of human pressures and fragmenting of the environment to the rapid changes brought by global warming, it raises serious concerns about the future of our environment.”
In short, many animals today could soon go the way of mammoths. That march to extinction already seems to be underway for many large mammals, such as the Javan rhino and the Cross River gorilla, which have experienced worrisome population drops over the past recent decades.
As for the prehistoric animals, which were the mega fauna of their time, the researchers compared data on these large animals’ DNA with radiocarbon measurements covering the past 56,000 years. Previously, when looking at the DNA information alone, the scientists detected a pattern. It showed that large species started to quickly bite the proverbial dust around 10,000–11,000 years ago.
At first they thought the extinctions were related to intense cold snaps. Two breakthroughs changed that view. First, the scientists were able to obtain more DNA from fossils in museum specimen collections. Second, carbon dating and understanding of temperature records have vastly improved over the years, permitting better resolution through time.
Read more at Discovery News
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