Cookies help us run our site more efficiently.

By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy for more information or to customize your cookie preferences.

Accept Deny

GoGreenNation news

Solving an Eons-Old Mystery: Paleontologists Shed New Light on the Extinction of the Wooly Rhinoceros

News Feed
Monday, June 10, 2024

Woolly rhinoceroses were once widely distributed across northern and central Eurasia, before going extinct some 10,000 years ago. Credit: Mauricio AntonAdvanced computer modeling reveals that sustained human hunting contributed to the woolly rhinoceros’s extinction by blocking their migration to new habitats during post-Ice Age warming, highlighting the ongoing impact of human activity on large animal species.Researchers found that persistent hunting by humans restricted the woolly rhinoceros from reaching preferred habitats as the Earth warmed after the Last Ice Age.An international team of researchers, led by scientists from the University of Adelaide and University of Copenhagen, used computer modelling to make the discovery, shedding light on an aeons-old mystery. “Using computer models, fossils and ancient DNA, we traced 52,000 years of population history of the woolly rhinoceros across Eurasia at a resolution not previously considered possible,” said lead author Associate Professor Damien Fordham, from the University of Adelaide’s Environment Institute. “This showed that from 30,000 years ago, a combination of cooling temperatures and low but sustained hunting by humans caused the woolly rhinoceros to contract its distribution southward, trapping it in a scattering of isolated and rapidly deteriorating habitats at the end of the Last Ice Age. As Earth thawed and temperatures rose, populations of woolly rhinoceros were unable to colonise important new habitats opening up in the north of Eurasia, causing them to destabilise and crash, bringing about their extinction.”An iconic species of megafauna, the woolly rhinoceros had thick skin and long fur, and it once roamed the mammoth step of northern and central Eurasia, before its extinction around 10,000 years ago.Contradictory Findings and Human ImpactThis recent discovery, published in PNAS, contradicts previous research that found humans had no role in the extinction of the woolly rhinoceros – despite the animal co-occurring with humans for tens of thousands of years prior to its extinction.“The demographic responses revealed by our analysis were at a much higher resolution to those captured in previous genetic studies,” said Professor Eline Lorenzen, from the University of Copenhagen’s Globe Institute. “This allowed us to pinpoint important interactions that woolly rhinoceroses had with humans and document how these changed through space and time. One of these largely overlooked interactions was persistent low levels of hunting by humans, probably for food.”Humans pose a similar environmental threat today. Populations of large animals have been pushed into fragmented and suboptimal habitat ranges due to over hunting and human land-use change.There were 61 species of large terrestrial herbivores – weighing more than one tonne – alive in the late Pleistocene, and only eight of these exist today. Five of those surviving species are rhinoceroses.“Our findings reveal how climate change and human activities can lead to megafauna extinctions,” said Professor David Nogues-Bravo, from the University of Copenhagen, who was a co-author of this study. “This understanding is crucial for developing conservation strategies to protect currently threatened species, like vulnerable rhinos in Africa and Asia. By studying past extinctions, we can provide valuable lessons for safeguarding Earth’s remaining large animals.”Reference: “52,000 years of woolly rhinoceros population dynamics reveal extinction mechanisms” by Damien A. Fordham, Stuart C. Brown, Elisabetta Canteri, Jeremy J. Austin, Mark V. Lomolino, Sean Haythorne, Edward Armstrong, Hervé Bocherens, Andrea Manica, Alba Rey-Iglesia, Carsten Rahbek, David Nogués-Bravo and Eline D. Lorenzen, 3 June 2024, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2316419121

Advanced computer modeling reveals that sustained human hunting contributed to the woolly rhinoceros’s extinction by blocking their migration to new habitats during post-Ice Age warming,...

Woolly Rhinoceroses

Woolly rhinoceroses were once widely distributed across northern and central Eurasia, before going extinct some 10,000 years ago. Credit: Mauricio Anton

Advanced computer modeling reveals that sustained human hunting contributed to the woolly rhinoceros’s extinction by blocking their migration to new habitats during post-Ice Age warming, highlighting the ongoing impact of human activity on large animal species.

Researchers found that persistent hunting by humans restricted the woolly rhinoceros from reaching preferred habitats as the Earth warmed after the Last Ice Age.

An international team of researchers, led by scientists from the University of Adelaide and University of Copenhagen, used computer modelling to make the discovery, shedding light on an aeons-old mystery.

“Using computer models, fossils and ancient DNA, we traced 52,000 years of population history of the woolly rhinoceros across Eurasia at a resolution not previously considered possible,” said lead author Associate Professor Damien Fordham, from the University of Adelaide’s Environment Institute. “This showed that from 30,000 years ago, a combination of cooling temperatures and low but sustained hunting by humans caused the woolly rhinoceros to contract its distribution southward, trapping it in a scattering of isolated and rapidly deteriorating habitats at the end of the Last Ice Age. As Earth thawed and temperatures rose, populations of woolly rhinoceros were unable to colonise important new habitats opening up in the north of Eurasia, causing them to destabilise and crash, bringing about their extinction.”

An iconic species of megafauna, the woolly rhinoceros had thick skin and long fur, and it once roamed the mammoth step of northern and central Eurasia, before its extinction around 10,000 years ago.

Contradictory Findings and Human Impact

This recent discovery, published in PNAS, contradicts previous research that found humans had no role in the extinction of the woolly rhinoceros – despite the animal co-occurring with humans for tens of thousands of years prior to its extinction.

“The demographic responses revealed by our analysis were at a much higher resolution to those captured in previous genetic studies,” said Professor Eline Lorenzen, from the University of Copenhagen’s Globe Institute. “This allowed us to pinpoint important interactions that woolly rhinoceroses had with humans and document how these changed through space and time. One of these largely overlooked interactions was persistent low levels of hunting by humans, probably for food.”

Humans pose a similar environmental threat today. Populations of large animals have been pushed into fragmented and suboptimal habitat ranges due to over hunting and human land-use change.

There were 61 species of large terrestrial herbivores – weighing more than one tonne – alive in the late Pleistocene, and only eight of these exist today. Five of those surviving species are rhinoceroses.

“Our findings reveal how climate change and human activities can lead to megafauna extinctions,” said Professor David Nogues-Bravo, from the University of Copenhagen, who was a co-author of this study. “This understanding is crucial for developing conservation strategies to protect currently threatened species, like vulnerable rhinos in Africa and Asia. By studying past extinctions, we can provide valuable lessons for safeguarding Earth’s remaining large animals.”

Reference: “52,000 years of woolly rhinoceros population dynamics reveal extinction mechanisms” by Damien A. Fordham, Stuart C. Brown, Elisabetta Canteri, Jeremy J. Austin, Mark V. Lomolino, Sean Haythorne, Edward Armstrong, Hervé Bocherens, Andrea Manica, Alba Rey-Iglesia, Carsten Rahbek, David Nogués-Bravo and Eline D. Lorenzen, 3 June 2024, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2316419121

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

Related News

Troubled waters: how to stop Australia’s freshwater fish species from going extinct

New research reveals a third of Australia’s freshwater fishes are at risk of extinction. That means 35 species should be added to the national list of 63 threatened species, bringing the total to 98.

The barred galaxias is already extinct across 95% of its former streams due to trout, bushfires and droughts. Steven KuiterThree-quarters of Australia’s freshwater fish species are found nowhere else on the planet. This makes us the sole custodians of remarkable creatures such as the ornate rainbowfish, the ancient Australian lungfish and the magnificently named longnose sooty grunter. So how are these national treasures faring? To find out, we undertook the first comprehensive assessment of Australia’s freshwater fish species. We examined extinction risks and drivers of decline, before reviewing existing conservation measures. Our results paint an alarming picture. More than one-third (37%) of our freshwater fish species are at risk of extinction, including 35 species not even listed as threatened. Dozens of species could become extinct before children born today even finish high school. The study also reveals Australia has been putting its eggs in the wrong basket for conservation by taking actions that don’t address immediate threats, such as pest species and changes in stream flows. Our research points to more effective solutions if governments are willing to step up their efforts. The Angalarri grunter is currently not on Australia’s threatened species list but is recommended for listing as endangered. It is declining due to degraded habitat and water quality caused by livestock and feral animals. Michael Hammer Identifying species at risk Recognising when species are in trouble is the first step in preventing their extinction. Before this study, the extinction risk of most freshwater fish species had never been assessed. The group had never been looked at overall. We evaluated the conservation risks of 241 species using globally recognised criteria (the IUCN Red List for Threatened Species). We began our assessments by gathering a team of 52 Australian freshwater fish experts for a five-day workshop in 2019. These experts came from universities, research organisations, museums, state government agencies, natural resource management, consultancies and non-government groups. Together, we used information from scientific publications, museum databases, Atlas of Living Australia records, government datasets, citizen science data, and our own knowledge of freshwater fish as it applied to the task. We identified dozens of freshwater fish species that were in trouble, but had not been recognised as threatened. This brings the proportion of our freshwater fishes at risk of extinction to a third. Some species have declined to the extent that they could disappear after a single disturbance, such as ash washed into streams after a bushfire or the arrival of an invasive non-native fish such as trout. We also found one New South Wales species, the Kangaroo River perch, is now extinct. Native fish enemy #1. A brown trout caught in NSW. Invasive fish such as brown and rainbow trout are the biggest driver of native fish loss. Lee Georgeson/iNaturalist, CC BY Get them on the list At present, 63 freshwater fish species are on Australia’s national list of species declared as threatened under federal environmental law. We identified 35 more species that should be listed, based on the available evidence. They include: ornate rainbowfish and longnosed sooty grunter (vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, the global list of threatened species) salamanderfish (endangered on the IUCN Red List) the slender carp, Drysdale and Barrow cave gudgeons in Western Australia (critically endangered on the IUCN Red List). The southwest ‘Vic’ blackfish is currently not on Australia’s threatened species list but is recommended for listing as endangered. Tarmo Raadik Maintaining an accurate threatened species list is important. When species are in trouble but not listed, they miss out on basic protections and are unlikely to receive any conservation attention. We also identified 17 already listed species that should be reassessed by the government as their risk categories need to be changed. For example, the remarkable freshwater sawfish, found in northern Australian rivers, is listed as vulnerable but all evidence indicates it’s now critically endangered. One sliver of good news is the fact that the Murray cod, a favoured sport fish across eastern Australia, is now doing better and could be assessed to be removed from Australia’s threatened species list. Mapping freshwater fish extinction risk reveals fish are in danger right around Australia. M. Lintermans, N. Whiterod and J. Dielenberg, CC BY-SA Address the causes of decline To prevent species extinctions, you need to address the causes of their declines. That might seem breathtakingly obvious, yet our review found a spectacular mismatch between the major threats to species at risk and the most common conservation actions. The top three drivers of decline are invasive fish (which threaten 92% of threatened freshwater fish species), modified stream flows and ecosystems (82%), and climate change and extreme weather (54%). For example, Australia has 40 galaxiid species, scaleless native fish shaped like slender sausages that grow to less than 15cm. But 31 of these are threatened with extinction – and rainbow and brown trout, two introduced predators, have been the biggest driver of their loss. Australia’s southern states are greatly adding to the problem by releasing millions of trout into waterways each year for recreational fishers. The endangered eastern freshwater cod has dwindled in part due to historic fish kills linked to dynamite blasting and pollution from mines and agriculture. It remains threatened by changes to river flows, removal of woody snags, and other damage to its habitat. The endangered blackstriped dwarf galaxias is being stressed by the changing climate in southwest WA. Warmer and drier conditions are resulting in lower water levels and warmer water. A waterfall has so far saved the critically endangered stocky galaxias from extinction by preventing trout from reaching its last refuge. Tarmo Raadik The other major threats facing native fish are agriculture and aquaculture (38%), pollution (38%), hunting and fishing (19%), energy production and mining (17%), and urban development (13%). For example, the endangered Utchee rainbowfish is struggling due to habitat loss and water pollution from farms surrounding the small number of north Queensland streams where it lives. In contrast, the most common conservation action was simply the fact that the species occurred in a protected area (88%) or conservation area (55%). Sadly, invasive species and climate change don’t recognise or stop at protected area boundaries. Prevention and control of invasive species has occurred for only 21% of affected threatened species, mostly in Tasmania. The Utchee rainbowfish is currently not on Australia’s threatened species list but is recommended for listing as endangered. It is struggling due to habitat loss and water pollution from agriculture surrounding the small number of streams where it occurs in north Queensland. ANGFA Qld A blueprint to end extinctions Without a major funding commitment to address the actual drivers of native fish losses, species will continue to decline, and extinctions will soon follow. The most important conservation actions for native freshwater fish are: update the national threatened species list to include all at-risk species tackle invasive species such as trout, gambusia and redfin perch identify, establish and protect additional invasive-fish-free refuge sites for species that currently occur only in a small number of locations and could be wiped out by a single event such as a bushfire halt ongoing habitat loss and improve habitats that have been damaged improve freshwater flows to maintain habitats such as wetlands and streams, improve water quality and give fish the natural cues they need to breed. In 2022, the Australian government made a commitment to end extinctions. Our study provides a blueprint for how to do that for our overlooked native freshwater fish. This waterfall in NSW has protected the native galaxias fish above it from trout. To prevent extinctions we need to find or create more invasive-fish-free refuges for native fish. Mark Lintermans Mark Lintermans was a member of the ACT Scientific Committee and the NSW Fisheries Scientific Committee, a previous convener of the Australian Society for Fish Biology Threatened Fishes Committee, and the Alien Fishes Committee. He now provides research, monitoring and advice for threatened freshwater fish management as director of a small consultancy company. He receives funding from New South Wales and national government departments for threatened fish projects. Jaana Dielenberg was employed by the now-ended Threatened Species Recovery Hub of the Australian Government's National Environmental Science Program, which led an earlier stage of this research. She is a Charles Darwin University Fellow and is employed by the University of Melbourne and the Biodiversity Council.Nick Whiterod works for the Goyder Institute for Water Research, Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth Research Centre, which is funded by the national government to delivery research in the region. He is a member of the New South Wales Fisheries Scientific Committee.

Extinction
Water
Animals

Fourth Mass Coral Bleaching Prompts UN Emergency Session at Colombia Biodiversity Summit

Coral reefs are in the midst of an ecological crisis and are at risk of extinction, according to the United Nations Capital Development Fund

CALI, Colombia (AP) — The United Nations, scientists and governments made an urgent call Wednesday for increased funding to protect coral reefs under threat of extinction. Research this year shows that 77% of the world’s reefs are affected by bleaching, mainly due to warming ocean waters amid human-caused climate change. It's the largest and fourth mass global bleaching on record and is impacting both hemispheres, United Nations Capital Development Fund said. The findings prompted a U.N. special emergency session — typically called to address escalating conflicts or natural disasters — on corals to be convened on sidelines of the U.N. biodiversity summit, known as COP16, nearing its end after two weeks in Cali, Colombia. Coral reefs are vital ecosystems that support over 25% of marine life and nearly a billion people, many relying on reefs for food security, coastal protection and livelihoods, the U.N. development fund said. After the emergency session, the governments of New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Germany and France made new pledges totaling around $30 million to the U.N. fund for coral reefs established in 2020. By 2030, the fund seeks to leverage up to $3 billion in public and private finance to support coral reef conservation efforts. Around $225 million has been raised to date.“Protecting our ocean and its precious habitats is fundamental to life on earth," said U.K. Minister for Nature Mary Creagh. "But without urgent action, the world’s coral reefs face extinction from global heating, acidification, disease, and pollution; a vital ecosystem lost within our lifetime.” Next year, a U.N. ocean conference will take place in Nice, France, and countries are being urged beforehand to pledge more to the U.N. global fund for coral reefs with the aim of mobilizing an additional $150 million in donations by the conference. “In 2024, climate change and other human impacts triggered the fourth mass coral reef bleaching event, the most extensive and devastating on record," said Peter Thomson, the U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean. "With the window to protect these ecosystems closing rapidly, world leaders must act now." "We must secure a sustainable future for coral reefs and the countless lives that rely on them —before it’s too late,” Thomson said. The first mass bleaching happened in 1998, the second between 2011-2013, the third in 2016, said Kenyan marine ecologist David Obura, who heads Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean East Africa.“They're lasting more than one year at a time, which is worrying,” Obura said at the U.N. emergency session at COP16.The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Sept. 2024

Extinction
Climate
Food

Large herbivores have been living in Yellowstone for 2,300 years: Study

Large herbivores, such as bison and elk, have lived continuously in Yellowstone National Park for more than two millennia, a new study has confirmed. Despite the near-extinction of bison in North American in the 19th and 20th centuries, these big plant-eaters and others have persisted in the park region since around 238 B.C., according to...

Large herbivores, such as bison and elk, have lived continuously in Yellowstone National Park for more than two millennia, a new study has confirmed. Despite the near-extinction of bison in North American in the 19th and 20th centuries, these big plant-eaters and others have persisted in the park region since around 238 B.C., according to the study, published on Wednesday in PLOS ONE. Since little was known about where and how these animals lived before European colonization, the researchers decided to figure out which large herbivores dominated the Yellowstone region. Understanding the population makeup, they explained, could provide insight into long-term ecosystem dynamics, past herbivore communities and environmental influences in this area and elsewhere. To paint a clearer picture of the park's past, researchers from multiple universities analyzed the steroids present in animal dung — unearthed from lake sediments that range from around 238 B.C. to the present day. Their first task in conducting this analysis was to identify which types of steroids occur in the feces of large herbivores, including bison, elk, moose, mule deer and pronghorn. Although they found that they recognize moose, pronghorn and mule deer based on steroids alone, the scientists saw that bison and elk were harder to differentiate from each other. Upon evaluating the steroids within different layers of lake sediments, they observed that either bison, elk or a combination of the two were the primary large plant-eaters that inhabited the watershed for the past 2,300 years. Steroid levels were particularly high during the 20th century, when hunting was banned and bison and elk were discouraged from migrating in the winter, according to the scientists, from Montana State University, Oklahoma State University and Ca' Foscari University of Venice. Based on plant pollen, microalgae and plankton detected in the dung, the researchers concluded that these expanded populations likely consumed local forage plants. In turn, their dung may have fertilized the growth of certain types of algae in the lake and thereby altered the local ecosystem. Stocks of winter hay provided by nearby park managers also kept the animals in the area longer and may have likewise caused changes in the watershed, the researchers noted. The scientists expressed optimism that their results could help wildlife managers and conservationists understand how communities of hoofed animals shift over time. Extending this approach of lake sediment analysis to other watershed could provide much-needed insight into past grazing habits of large herbivores in Yellowstone and elsewhere, per the study. "This information is critical for understanding long-term dynamics of ecologically and culturally important herbivores such as bison and elk," the authors added.

Extinction
Animals
Water

Rare and Elusive Australian Bird, Once Thought Extinct for 100 Years, Discovered by Indigenous Rangers and Scientists

Using sound recordings, the team identified the largest known population of the night parrot, a secretive species known as the "Holy Grail of birdwatching"

An illustration of night parrots by Elizabeth Gould, completed in 1890. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons The night parrot—a brilliantly colored, nocturnal bird—once thrived in Australia’s outback. The arrival of colonists and feral predators, however, brought about an almost catastrophic decline in the species’ population in the late 19th century. In fact, the vibrant, green parrots were believed to be extinct for roughly a century, until one of them was found in western Queensland in 1990. While that was heartening for scientists, there was one problem: The specimen was dead. Then, another dead night parrot was identified 16 years later. It wasn’t until 2013 that a naturalist found a small, living population in southwestern Queensland. Since then, the species’ known population has been in the tens of birds, and the night parrot remains one of the most elusive—and most endangered—birds on Earth. Now, however, a team of Indigenous rangers and scientists has discovered as many as 50 night parrots on land managed by the Ngururrpa people in Western Australia’s Great Sandy Desert. The new results from their project, which is supported with funding from Australia’s National Environmental Science Program’s Resilient Landscapes Hub, were published in the journal Wildlife Research on Monday. “We the Ngururrpa Rangers have been looking for night parrots since 2019. First, we thought they were only living in one area, on our neighbor’s country, but then we started checking in our area and ended up finding evidence that they are here,” Clifford Sunfly, a Ngururrpa ranger and co-author of the study, says in a statement. “We are still looking for them, to make sure they are safe, and we are still finding them.” Night parrots, once thought to be extinct for roughly 100 years, are among Australia's rarest and most elusive birds. Nicholas Leseberg Night parrots are generally difficult to detect—a fact that has been long recorded in Indigenous culture. The elusive species creates tunnels and nests in dense spinifex bushes and emerges at night to forage for seeds. Spotting such a creature has been called the “Holy Grail of birdwatching.” During their work, the rangers found physical evidence of night parrots, including feathers and nests with eggs, and they “knew it was a good sign,” Rudi Maxwell writes for NITV. A few years ago, they even captured a rare photograph of a night parrot—only the fourth image of the bird on record. This encounter put the team among the special group of fewer than 30 people who had seen a live night parrot in the last 100 years. The new breakthrough, though, came from sound data. Rangers used their knowledge of the environment to narrow down the parrot’s vast habitat to 31 potential roosting areas, where the team then placed sound recorders to listen for its distinctive calls, which include “whistles, croaks and bell-like sounds,” the team writes for the Conversation. “The acoustic data we gathered was then analyzed to extract any bird calls in the night parrot’s frequency range. Potential detections were verified using a reference library of known night parrot calls,” the scientists add in the Conversation. They successfully identified night parrot calls in 17 of the 31 sites they had chosen, ten of which were determined to be roost sites, since the calls sounded shortly after sunset and before sunrise. Four of the authors of the new night parrot paper—Angela Reid, Clifford Sunfly, Rachel Paltridge and Nicholas Leseberg—at the Ngururrpa Indigenous Protected Area Ngururrpa Rangers One of the night parrot’s diverse array of calls sounded like “didly dip, didly dip,” like a telephone, as study co-author Nick Leseberg, an ecologist at the University of Queensland, tells the Guardian’s Petra Stock. Another sounded like “dink dink,” resembling a bell. The team hypothesized the distribution of night parrots and the birds’ general population size by counting the number of different calls, because individuals are thought to have unique vocalizations. Researchers also took into account the volume of the call, which helps determine the location it came from. They then extrapolated these results across 58 potential habitats in the area and estimated up to 20 roosting sites may be active there, hosting a predicted total of between 40 and 50 birds. This makes the Ngururrpa Indigenous Protected Area population the largest known congregation of night parrots, since the known population in Queensland contains no more than 20 birds, per the Guardian. Having identified the night parrots by sound, the team moved on to studying threats to the endangered species using camera traps. They found that dingoes were the most present predators in the area—but the large, wild dogs were busy eating feral cats, which the team suspects are the real key predators of night parrots. So dingoes, they suggest, are actually protecting the night parrot population. A night parrot appears in a photograph captured by a camera trap. Ngururrpa Rangers Satellite imagery helped determine that lightning-caused bushfires pose a great threat to the parrots in the Great Sandy Desert. The rangers already conduct strategic land burning to manage that risk, but the new data could help them tailor their plan to protect roosting sites. Night parrots also benefit from a lack of human development in their environment, so the team argues remote habitats should be kept unindustrialized. In fact, the Great Sandy Desert “is probably one of the world’s most uninfluenced ecosystems when it comes to industrial-level footprints,” James Watson, a biogeographer at the University of Queensland who was not involved in the study, tells the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Peter de Kruijff. “It’s these large, intact places that allow species to adapt to a changing climate, because they’ve got big, healthy populations that can move through the landscape,” he adds. Urgent action is needed to protect the newly discovered night parrot population, the scientists write in the Conversation, and to “ensure the night parrot doesn’t go missing a second time, perhaps for good.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Extinction
Indigenous
Culture

Did humans drive Cyprus dwarf hippos and elephants extinct?

A new study shows that now-extinct dwarf hippos and elephants on the island of Cyprus were likely driven to extinction by humans about 14,000 years ago. The post Did humans drive Cyprus dwarf hippos and elephants extinct? first appeared on EarthSky.

Pygmy hippopotamus at the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy. The now-extinct dwarf hippo in Cyprus would have looked much like this species. But a new study indicates that only a few thousand humans made the Cyprus dwarf hippos and elephants go extinct. Image via Chuckupd / Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Dwarf hippos and elephants once lived on Cyprus but went extinct around 14,000 years ago, likely due to hunting by humans. A small population of 3,000-7,000 Stone Age humans could have hunted these animals to extinction within 1,000 years. Researchers used fossil data and computer models to reconstruct likely scenarios about the animal populations and hunting pressure, and concluded that human hunting caused the extinctions. Dwarf hippos and elephants once roamed the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. They disappeared some 14,000 years ago, not long after humans arrived on the island at the end of the last Ice Age. Did that human population – a group perhaps numbering only 3,000 to 7,000 individuals – cause the animals’ extinction? Controversy has surrounded this question. But now, a new study suggests that these Stone Age humans were indeed responsible. Scientists published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B on September 18, 2024. Did a few thousand people hunt the hippos and elephants to extinction? There’s been controversy over whether humans were responsible for the extinction of the dwarf hippos and elephants on Cyprus. Changing environmental conditions and inbreeding have been considered as possible reasons. Some researchers thought that the animals disappeared before the arrival of humans. Others felt there simply weren’t enough early humans in Cyprus to kill off the animals. Scientists believe that humans arrived in Cyprus about 13,000 to 14,000 years ago. And they think that the population grew to several thousand within just a few hundred years after arrival on the island. Fossil remains – teeth and bones – from dwarf elephants on display at the Akamas Geology and Paleontology Information Center in Cyprus. Image via Corey Bradshaw/ Flinders University. Used with permission. Fertility, longevity and population size So, did humans hunt these creatures to extinction? To answer that question, the scientists examined likely scenarios, using computer models. They used data on fossils of the dwarf hippos and elephants, and archaeological evidence of early human presence in Cyprus, for the analysis. First, dwarf hippo and elephant fossils were used to figure out how much these animals would have weighed. That allowed the researchers to estimate population sizes, fertility, and longevity. They also estimated the animals’ growth rate by comparing then to closely related species alive today, the pygmy hippo and African elephant. With this information, they then created computer models of scenarios resulting from the arrival of human hunters. The scientists estimated hunting and harvesting efficiency, and how much energy the hunters would have needed from their prey for survival on the island. Theodora Moutsiou of Cyprus University, a paper co-author, said in a statement: Cyprus is the perfect location to test our models because the island offers an ideal set of conditions to examine whether the arrival of populations of humans ultimately led to the extinction of its megafauna species. This is because Cyprus is an insular environment and can provide a window back in time through our data. Evidence points to human cause for extinctions The results showed that a population numbering between 3,000 and 7,000 people could have easily caused the extinction of the dwarf hippos, followed by the dwarf elephants. This progression of the disappearance of these animals is supported in the fossil record. Moreover, the models predicted that these extinctions could have occurred in less than 1,000 years. Corey Bradshaw of Flinders University is the lead author of the paper. He said: Our results provide strong evidence that paleolithic peoples in Cyprus were at least partially responsible for megafauna extinctions during the Late Pleistocene and early Holocene. The main determinant of extinction risk for both species was the proportion of edible meat they provided to the first people on the island. Our research lays the foundation for an improved understanding on the impact small human populations can have in terms of disrupting native ecosystems and causing major extinctions even during a period of low technological capacity. A view of the limestone caves in Cyprus where many of the dwarf hippo and elephant fossils were found. Image via Corey Bradshaw/ Flinders University. Used with permission. Meet the Cyprus dwarf hippos and elephants Cyprus isn’t the only Mediterranean island that once had dwarf hippos and elephants. Other islands in the area, like Malta and Sardinia, did too. On Cyprus, the diminutive elephants and hippos were the largest animals on the island when humans arrived. The animals had no natural predators on the island. Why were they so small? A phenomenon called insular dwarfism resulted in smaller versions of these otherwise large creatures found on the mainland. These animals evolved a reduced body size due to fewer food resources on the island. The Cypriot pygmy hippopotamus (Phanourios minor), according to fossil evidence, measured a bit over 2 feet (.6 meter) tall and 4 feet (1.2 meters) long. It likely weighed just 290 pounds (230 kg). That’s about the size of the pygmy hippopotamus found today in western Africa. In comparison, Phanourios’s closest living relative, the common hippopotamus, is about 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall, ranges in length from 9 to 16 feet (about 3 to 5 meters), and can weigh over 3,000 pounds (1,300 kg). Display at the Akamas Geology and Paleontology Information Center in Cyprus showing bones from a dwarf hippo and an artist’s reconstruction of the animal. Image via Corey Bradshaw/ Flinders University. Used with permission. Also on the island was the Cypriot dwarf elephant (Palaeoloxodon cypriotes). These elephants weighed about 1,100 pounds (500 kg). and may have measured just over 3 feet (1 meter) tall. Palaeoloxodon descended from the now-extinct straight-tusked elephant that lived in mainland Europe and Western Asia during the middle and late Pleistocene (770,000 to 11,700 years ago). The males were about 13 feet (4 meters) tall and weighed 29,000 pounds (13,000 kg), while females measured 10 feet (3 meters) tall and weighed over 12,000 pounds (5,400 kg). Bottom line: A new study shows that dwarf hippopotamus and elephants that once lived on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus were likely driven to extinction by humans about 14,000 years ago. Source: Small populations of Palaeolithic humans in Cyprus hunted endemic megafauna to extinction Via Flinders University Via The Conversation Read more: Ice Age humans: Did they affect the extinction of large mammals?The post Did humans drive Cyprus dwarf hippos and elephants extinct? first appeared on EarthSky.

Extinction
Animals
Food

Suggested Viewing

Wildlife in Our Backyard

It is often said that we must tolerate wildlife, but what happens if we learn to thrive with them instead? What can this mean for the wildlife? What can it mean for the people of Florida? And what can it mean for the endangered Florida panther? Wildlife in Our Backyard shows us some of the problems facing the wildlife as well as the hope of a brighter future as we learn to share the landscape with them.

Animals
Land Use
Extinction

Reboot

Humans have exploited Earth to the point where it is no longer possible to live on it. Their only option is to relocate to Mars. When the last group of people has boarded the spaceship for the red planet, the Earth can finally breathe easy. Like an expressionist painting, Reboot depicts a world in which the absence of our species is the only chance nature has to recover its lushness and flourish once more.

Animation
Crisis
Cosmos

The Windshield Effect

As a child, Julian and his mother, Sylvie, could spend hours out in nature admiring the soundtrack of the plentiful insects. One day, a grown Julian is out on a run in those same woods and when he takes off his ear buds, realizes he cannot hear anything at all. A trip to the audiologist assures him there is nothing wrong with his ears, but he is still left shaken. Back in the forest, he comes to the realization that the insects themselves have gone silent in a mass die off. Also known as the "Windshield Phenomenon" that documents how bugs no longer splatter on windshields as we drive as insect populations are down more than 45% over the last 4 decades.

Forests
Extinction
Nature

Talking Trees

Yes, trees can talk. They communicate through their roots. Please listen to what they have to say in this short film.

Forests
Extinction
Climate

On the Brink

A short movie explaining how sea lice coming from fish farms in British Columbia are harming wild salmon to the brink of extinction.

Animals
Agriculture
Extinction

Join us to forge
a sustainable future

Our team is always growing.
Become a partner, volunteer, sponsor, or intern today.
Let us know how you would like to get involved!

CONTACT US

sign up for our mailing list to stay informed on the latest films and environmental headlines.

Subscribers receive a free day pass for streaming Cinema Verde.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.