We use a hierarchical Bayesian distance-sampling model to infer the atoll-wide abundance and habitat-specific density of Aldabra giant tortoises from long-term, irregular transect monitoring on Aldab...

We use a hierarchical Bayesian distance-sampling model to infer the atoll-wide abundance and habitat-specific density of Aldabra giant tortoises from long-term, irregular transect monitoring on Aldab...

Africa’s giant herbivores did not simply vanish in a wave of extinctions. Their evolutionary family tree was slowly running out of new branches. A new study suggests that the long decline of animals such as elephants, hippopotamuses, and their extinct relatives was driven primarily by low rates of speciation. Once a giant species disappeared, another rarely evolved quickly enough to take its place. The finding challenges the idea that extreme size made these animals unusually vulnerable to extinction. It also places the beginning of their decline millions of years before humans acquired the technology needed to hunt such formidable prey. A Lost World of Giant Herbivores Megaherbivores weigh at least 1,000 kilograms (2,205 pounds) and can transform entire landscapes through feeding, trampling, digging, and seed dispersal. Modern elephants and hippopotamuses continue to perform some of these roles, but they represent only a fraction of the giant herbivore diversity that once existed. Researchers from the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC), the National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH), and the University of Alcalá reconstructed that lost history in a study published in Nature Communications. The team examined 3,327 fossil records representing 396 species of herbivorous mammals (hippopotamuses, antelopes, and giraffes,...

Ecology and Evolution, Volume 16, Issue 9, September 2026.

Massive plant-eating mammals, or megaherbivores, once engineered African landscapes but are nearly gone today. This new analysis of their fossil record suggests their decline was driven not only by hi...

Massive plant-eating mammals, or megaherbivores, once engineered African landscapes but are nearly gone today. This new analysis of their fossil record suggests their decline was driven not only by hi...

The three earliest continent-wide cultures in the Americas focused on the largest prey, like mammoths and giant ground sloths.

Early Paleolithic (ca. 2-0.2 mya) lithic assemblages are marked by the recurrent presence of diagnostic heavy-duty tool classes, namely, handaxes, cho…

Combining high-resolution mapping of foliar and herbivore faecal sodium concentrations across Africa, the authors show that plant-derived sodium availability constrains megaherbivore densities at a co...

The three earliest continent-wide cultures in the Americas focused on the largest prey, like mammoths and giant ground sloths.

Early Paleolithic (ca. 2-0.2 mya) lithic assemblages are marked by the recurrent presence of diagnostic heavy-duty tool classes, namely, handaxes, cho…

The three earliest continent-wide cultures in the Americas focused on the largest prey, like mammoths and giant ground sloths.

Massive plant-eating mammals, or megaherbivores, once engineered African landscapes but are nearly gone today. This new analysis of their fossil record suggests their decline was driven not only by hi...