And in those regions, too, the climate has since varied, without the populations of large mammals following suit. This is one of the things that have been puzzling scientists for years.
The new study therefore adds strong support to the claim that the main driver behind the decline of large mammals was hunting and possibly also the spread of modern humans. It thereby, to some extent, invalidates the argument that the extinction of large mammals is solely or primarily the result of climate change.
In conclusion, the new research from Aarhus University shows that the dramatic decline of almost all large mammals 50,000 years ago is likely due to the impact of modern humans’ hunting activity. With evidence from DNA mapping showing that this decline even affected today’s populations of large mammals, this study provides a groundbreaking confirmation of the impact humans have had on the decline of megafauna across the globe.