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Megafauna. The African bush elephant (foreground), Earth's largest extant land animal, and the Masai ostrich (background), one of Earth's largest extant birds. 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 ...
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.
Pleistocene rewilding is the advocacy of the reintroduction of extant Pleistocene megafauna, or the close ecological equivalents of extinct megafauna. [ 1 ] It is an extension of the conservation practice of rewilding, which aims to restore functioning, self-sustaining ecosystems through practices that may include species reintroductions.
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 ...
The Holocene extinction drastically reduced numbers and distribution of megafauna and continues to (such as with wolves and bears). Many of these species still exist in smaller numbers, while others thrive in the developed continent free from natural predators, with the former threatened by human activity (particularly megafaunal species).
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 ...
The California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is a New World vulture and the largest North American land bird. It became extinct in the wild in 1987 when all remaining wild individuals were captured, but has since been reintroduced to northern Arizona and southern Utah (including the Grand Canyon area and Zion National Park), the coastal mountains of California, and northern Baja California ...
Charismatic megafauna are animal species that are large—in the relevant category that they represent [1] —with symbolic value or widespread popular appeal, and are often used by environmental activists to gain public support for environmentalist goals. [2] In this definition, animals such as penguins or bald eagles can be considered ...