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Mammoths are not the only mammals that are extinct today. © AMNH |
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What Killed Off the Megafauna? Some of the oddest extinction events since the loss of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago have occurred during the last 50,000 years--that is, since the appearance of anatomically modern humans. During this time mammals had diversified and proliferated and included hundreds of species of megafauna--mammals weighing more than 100 pounds (44 kg). In the case of North America, near the end of the Pleistocene Epoch around 11,000 years ago, more than two thirds of the continent’s large mammals became extinct, apparently within the space of a few centuries.
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