What is Megafauna?
[[File:Megatherium americanum Skeleton NHM.JPG|thumb|right|250px|''[[Megatherium]]'' [[NHM]]]] [[File:Mammut skeleton Museum of the Earth.jpg|thumb|right|[[Mastodon]], 2.5 to 3 meters (8-10 feet) at the shoulder and weighing 3500 and 5400 kilograms (4-6 tons)]] '''Megafauna''' are large animals. The word is most used for the [[Pleistocene]] megafauna {{ndash}} the large land animals of the last [[ice age]], such as [[mammoth]]s.<ref>[http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/larson/ice_age_animals.html# Ice age animals]. Illinois State Museum</ref> It is also used for the largest [[extant taxon|living]] wild land animals, especially [[elephant]]s, [[giraffe]]s, [[hippopotamus]], [[rhinoceros]], [[elk]], [[condor]]s, etc. Its use is connected with the discussion about the [[Holocene extinction]]s after the ice age. Most of the large land animals which were alive 12,000 years ago are now extinct, and there is much discussion as to what has caused this. The two main theories are [[hunting]] by humans, and [[climate change]].<ref name=Martin>Martin P.S. & Klein R.G. (eds) 1984. ''Quarternary extinctions: a prehistoric revolution''. Tucson: Arizona University Press. {{ISBN|0-8165-1100-4}}</ref> Together, these reasons are enough to explain why these previously successful animals are now [[extinct]]. [[Elephant bird]]s on [[Madagascar]] were certainly hunted to extinction, as were the [[Moa]]s in [[New Zealand]]. Archaeological sites with evidence of moa hunting are all over New Zealand. The moas became extinct about five hundred years ago.<ref name=Martin/> The moas had survived being hunted by [[Haast's Eagle]], but they did not survive being hunted for food by the [[Māori people|Maori]]s. For many others the [[climate change]]s may have been the main reason for their extinction. == References == {{Reflist}} [[Category:Zoology]]