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The domestic cow may be the largest land mammal on Earth in 200 years, if the loss of large-bodied and currently threatened animals continues in the future, according to a study.
Researchers led by The University of New Mexico demonstrated that mammal biodiversity loss is part of a long-term trend lasting at least 125,000 years. The study, published in the journal Science, is the first to quantitatively show that human effects on mammal body size predates their migration out of Africa and that size selective extinction is a hallmark of human activities and not the norm in mammal evolution.
The researchers showed that body-size downgrading is a hallmark of human activity, both in the past and present.
If this trend continues into the future researchers warn, the largest terrestrial mammal in 200 years will be the domestic cow. That would mean the loss of elephants, giraffes and hippos.
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