Collegedunia Team Content Curator
Content Curator
Megafauna means large animals in all the terrestrial regions of the world. The most common animals which can be classified as megafauna are elephants, giraffes, rhinoceros and hippopotamuses. Animals are classified as megafauna with respect to their weights as they can go from 45 kg to over a tonne (1000Kg). Megafaunas are usually non-domestic animals because of their large and heavy bodies and common notion that they are considered as dangerous for mankind survival.
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Key Terms: Megafauna, Evolution, Charismatic, Extinct, Pleistocene, Glyptodon, Argentavis, Paraceratherium, Megalania
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Types of Megafauna
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Megafaunas are categorized in three different types, which are charismatic, extinct and Pleistocene megafauna. They are classified on the basis of size and lifespan.
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Charismatic Megafauna
The plant and animal species which gain the public attraction because of their large body size are known as charismatic megafauna. Lions, elephants and lions are some examples of this type.
They are often used by the environmental activists to catch the attention of people in the form of logos of their organizations or on pamphlets for campaigning. The species of charismatic megafauna are often endangered due to activities of overhunting, poaching, the black-market trade and many more reasons.
Extinct Megafauna
Extinct megafauna are those species which have not been seen for the last fifty years in the wild. The reason is simply because of human interference, climate change or habitat destruction. Human involvement is considered to be the major reason for their extinction as they kill them to feed their families which results in lesser numbers and leads them to extinction. Below are some of the examples of extinct megafauna:
Glyptodon
Glyptodon were the large, heavily armoured mammals with the similar looks of turtles that went extinct around 10,000 years ago. They were of similar size and weight to the Volkswagen Beetle. They protect themselves from the hunters by their hard shell.
Glyptodon
Argentavis
Argentavis were counted in the largest flying birds ever to exist. They faced a lot of challenges due to their big bodies as flight was considered to be difficult for them. Also, climate change has affected them deeply. Of course, Argentavis suffered hardly any predation, and mortality was mainly from old age, accidents and disease.
Argentavis
Paraceratherium
Paraceratherium is an extinct genus of hornless rhinoceros. They are believed to have lived for the longest and existed about 30 million years ago. It is estimated that they weighed around 15 to 20 tonnes and were 20 feet tall. Below picture shows the skeleton of paraceratherium kept in a museum.
Paraceratherium
Megalania
Megalania is the largest terrestrial lizard known to have existed. According to the study, the youngest fossils show that they were from 50,000 years ago. The human settlements in Australia were threatened and the reason for their extinction.
Pleistocene Megafauna
Pleistocene epoch, also known as the “Ice Age” is the last glacial period. So, the large plants and animals that lived in the Ice Age but went extinct in this category. By the end of the Pleistocene epoch, climate change was the biggest survival problem for the living beings so this resulted in loss of many species. One of the reasons which is considered for the extinction of animals and plants is the impact from an asteroid or comets. Also, hunting and spread of the diseases affected the species.
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Consequences of Depletion of Megafauna
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The extinction of the Megafauna species can cause an imbalance in the ecosystem. Megafauna play a vital role in transferring the nutrients from higher to lower levels. Also, if any species goes extinct then the whole food chain gets distorted.
Moreover, megafauna contribute the most to the concentration of methane in the atmosphere which is an important greenhouse gas as a by-product of digestion. So, it is an urgent need to look upon the issue as it will lead to huge mankind loss if not taken care of.
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Things to Remember
- Megafauna weight can go from 45 Kg to over a tonne.
- Megafauna are considered as non-domestic animals because of their giant body.
- Charismatic, extinct, Pleistocene are three types of megafauna.
- Charismatic megafauna are used by activists for campaigning.
- Pleistocene epoch is also known as “Ice Age”.
- Human activities, climate change, disease are main reasons for megafauna extinction.
- Depletion of various species can cause imbalance on Earth.
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Sample Question
Ques. What is megafauna? (2 Marks)
Ans. The word megafauna can be divided as Mega + Fauna where Mega means large and Fauna means animal life. So, basically Megafauna means large animals in all the terrestrial regions of the world. The most common animals which can be classified as megafauna are elephants, giraffes, rhinoceros and hippopotamuses.
Ques. Does megafauna still exist? (2 Marks)
Ans. Yes, megafauna still exist. Megafauna is a set of large numbers of species with large bodies. So, some of the species are extinct whereas some are endangered or ambulance in numbers. The megafauna that can be spotted easily are elephants. On the other hand, Argentavis is an extinct megafauna.
Ques. Did humans drive megafauna to extinction? (2 Marks)
Ans. Excess of human activities such as hunting, poaching or black-marketing of the animal body parts resulted in extinction of the megafauna. So, it can be said that human involvement can be considered as one of the major reasons for the megafauna extinction but it is not the only reason. Other factors like climate change are equally responsible for extinction.
Ques. Give examples of recently extinct megafauna. (2 Marks)
Ans. Some of the megafauna that became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene epoch are mastodons, long-horned bison, woolly-rhinoceros, mammoths, giant ground sloths and giant beavers. The animals which are on edge of extinction are giant pandas, tigers, blue whales and many more.
Ques. How are relations between humans and megafauna nowadays? (2 Marks)
Ans. Human and megafauna have developed a better and beautiful relationship now. Animals are given more importance and treated with great care because of the spiritual values or awareness among humans which makes a safer environment for everyone. So, the life threat from each other is lesser than before which helps many species to recover from getting extinct.
Ques. Which was the biggest megafauna? (1 Mark)
Ans. Diprotodon was considered the biggest megafauna. It was native to Australia but due to over hunting by new settlers in the region results in the extinction of Diprotodon.
Ques. What steps can be taken to protect megafauna? (2 Marks)
Ans. Hunting and trading of animal body parts should be banned immediately by the government and punishment should be given to those who violate the law. Also, more and more national parks and wildlife sanctuaries should be built to give the sense of safe environment to them. Thirdly, people should spread the awareness among them about the consequences of depletion of megafaunas. So, these steps can surely help to protect megafaunas.
Ques. When was the Pleistocene megafauna extinct? (1 Mark)
Ans. Pleistocene megafauna got extinct at the end of the Ice Age or in the Quaternary Extinction Event. The four reasons which caused extinction were hunting, climate change, disease and impact from asteroids or comets.
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