Echoes of Extinctions: Novel Method Unearths Ecosystem Disruptions
Profiles of two eastern African elephants walking side by side. (Photo: Jess Hunt-Ralston)
Large-bodied mammals play crucial roles in ecosystems. They create habitats, serve as prey, help plants thrive, and even influence how wildfires burn. But now, fewer than half of the large mammal species that were alive 50,000 years ago exist today, and those that remain are threatened with extinction from intensifying climate change and human activities.