Adorable Moment When Captain Jack, The Cat, Was Rescued From A Sailboat After His Owner Died A Week Before
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These ostrich-like birds were as tall as 3m but now, they're no more
Dinornithiformes, a phylum comprising nine species of gigantic, flightless birds, flourished in New Zealand for millions of years. Then they unexpectedly vanished around 600 years ago.
Scientists have long speculated as to what role hunting by Homo sapiens played in the moas' demise, as their die-off correlated with the arrival of the first people on the islands in the late 13th century. A recent genetic analysis of moa remains shows that humans are the only ones responsible for the demise of the birds.
Megafauna were large animal species that included mammoths, mastodons, and moas. Between 9000 and 13,000 years ago, as humans started to spread across the globe, many species of megafauna went extinct.
Many times the creatures vanished soon after humans entered their ecosystems, leading some scientists to hypothesize that we overhunted them to extinction. However, other experts have suggested that these species' extinction was primarily caused by natural events, such as volcanic eruptions, illness, and climatic change near the end of the last Ice Age.
Because the moas were the last of the large species to go extinct, and because they did so recently when a changing climate was no longer a concern, researchers think the moas present a particularly interesting instance. The moa species, which had never seen a terrestrial mammal before people came, offered substantial meals, with sizes ranging from 12 to 250 kilos.
More Info: Reddit, science.org
Many times, the animals disappeared not long after humans entered their ecosystems, which led some scientists to assume that humanity overhunted them until they went extinct. Other scientists, however, contend that natural occurrences, such as volcanic eruptions, disease, and climatic changes near the end of the last Ice Age, were chiefly responsible for the demise of these species.
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Researchers believe the moas give a particularly intriguing example since they were the last of the major species to go extinct and because they did so recently when a changing climate was no longer a problem. Before humanity arrived, the moa species—which had never encountered a terrestrial mammal—offered hearty meals that ranged in weight from 12 to 250 kg.
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