The verdict is finally in on an ancient murder mystery — and, surprise, surprise, humans are looking very guilty.
Many giant animals called megafauna — think saber-toothed tigers, woolly mammoths, and giant armadillos — went extinct thousands of years ago, but up till now, scientists haven't been sure whether it was climate change or humans who killed them off. But researchers from Exeter and Cambridge who ran a statistical analysis comparing the timing of the animals’ extinctions with the arrival of humans and changes in climate, reached the conclusion that mankind did most of the killing.
“As far as we are concerned, this research is the nail in the coffin of this 50-year debate — humans were the dominant cause of the University of extinction of the megafauna,” researcher Lewis Bartlett said. “What we don’t know is what it was about those earlier settlers that caused this demise.”
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While researchers postulate that people could’ve hunted the animals for food or just driven them out of their native habitats, one thing is for sure: “It debunks the myth of early humans living in harmony with nature.” Looks like Cecil the lion was far from mankind’s first victim.
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