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The following is a list of megafauna discovered by science since the beginning of the 19th century (with their respective date of discovery). Some of these may have been known to native peoples or reported anecdotally but had not been generally acknowledged as confirmed by the scientific world, until conclusive evidence was obtained for formal studies.
Megafauna. In zoology, megafauna (from Greek μέγας megas "large" and Neo-Latin fauna "animal life") are large animals. The precise definition of the term varies widely, though a common threshold is approximately 45 kilograms (99 lb), with other thresholds as low as 10 kilograms (22 lb) or as high as 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb).
The Late Pleistocene to the beginning of the Holocene saw the extinction of the majority of the world's megafauna (typically defined as animal species having body masses over 44 kilograms (97 lb)), [1] which resulted in a collapse in faunal density and diversity across the globe. [2] The extinctions during the Late Pleistocene are ...
Tennessee, Cumberland, Ohio, and Wabash River systems [190] Extinct in 1936 due to loss of habitat through impoundment or channelization. [8] Sampson's pearly mussel. Epioblasma sampsonii. Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana [191] Extinct in the 1930s or 1940s due to habitat destruction and fragmentation.
The term Australian megafauna refers to the megafauna in Australia [1] during the Pleistocene Epoch. Most of these species became extinct during the latter half of the Pleistocene, and the roles of human and climatic factors in their extinction are contested. There are similarities between the prehistoric Australian megafauna and some mythical ...
Common name Scientific name Range Comments Pictures North African elephant: Loxodonta africana pharaoensis: North Africa: Neolithic rock art indicates that the African bush elephant inhabited much of the Sahara desert and North Africa at the beginning of the Holocene, and Ancient authors wrote that it was present in the Atlas Mountains, the Red Sea coast, and Nubia until the first few ...
A mastodon (mastós 'breast' + odoús 'tooth') is a member of the genus Mammut (German for 'mammoth'), which, strictly defined, was endemic to North America and lived from the late Miocene to the early Holocene. Mastodons belong to the order Proboscidea, the same order as elephants and mammoths (which belong to the family Elephantidae).
Megaherbivore. Hippopotamus is an extant megaherbivore. Megaherbivores (Greek μέγας megas "large" and Latin herbivora "herbivore" [1]) are large herbivores that can exceed 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) in weight. The earliest herbivores to reach such sizes like the parieasaurs appeared in the Permian period. During most of the Mesozoic, the ...