Megafauna extinction 10,000 years ago still shapes ecosystems today
A scientific analysis shows how the disappearance of giant animals such as saber-toothed cats, giant ground sloths, woolly mammoths, and Australian giant wombats between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago continues to have impacts on global ecosystems today. The extinct megafauna played a crucial role in preserving landscapes and biodiversity, whose absence has had lasting effects on modern environmental structures.