Cow could grow to be biggest land mammal left on the planet due to human activity, says new study

The spread of hominims – early humans and associated species such as Neanderthals – from Africa thousands of years ago coincided with the extinction of megafauna such as the mammoth, the sabre-toothed tiger and the glyptodon, an armadillo-like creature the size of a vehicle, according to the study. “There is a very clear pattern of size-biased extinction that follows the migration of hominims out of Africa,” the study’s lead author, Flisa Smith of the University of New Mexico, was quoted by The Guardian as saying.

She mentioned that the notion that climate modify could have brought on the disappearance of creatures like the woolly mammoth, elephant-sized sloths, saber-toothed cats, and rhino is inaccurate. While shifting climates, like the dawn of the ice age, brought on adaptations in animals it was not the major result in of their extinction. Smith explained that in the previous when an animal’s habitat was no longer appropriate due to climate, it could merely move. But, humans ultimately began acquiring in the way as folks settled and created.

“If such a trend continues, the biggest mammal on Earth in a handful of hundred years could nicely be a domestic cow at about 900kg,’’ the researcher concluded, adding it would imply the extinction of elephants, giraffes, and hippos, amongst other individuals. In North America, the imply physique mass of land mammals has dropped from 98kg to 7.6kg because the arrival of humans.

If the trend continues, “the average weight of mammals would also plummet to less than 2.72kg – roughly the size of a Yorkshire terrier,” according to a report in USA Today. In spite of the conservation efforts, Smith pointed out that the populations of huge land mammals had been falling and “declining population is the trajectory to extinction.” The world’s final male northern white rhino died in Kenya in March. The Science study did not contain marine mammals such as the blue whale, the biggest creature that has ever existed, which is listed as endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Information Source: Muscat Daily