The End of Megafauna. The Fascinating Life and Mysterious Death of Mammoths, Saber-Toothed Tigers, and Giant Sloths

Paleontologist Ross MacPhee seeks to unveil the mystery of extinctions over the last 50,000 years, primarily affecting the largest animals on Earth. Among them are giant sloths, mastodons, mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, and other representatives of megafauna. The author examines both classical hypotheses of their extinction—resulting from climate change and human hunting—and new ones: disruption of food webs, hyperepidemics, and the impact of a celestial body on Earth's atmosphere 12,900 years ago. This allows for the integration of numerous paleontological and archaeological data, including findings from recent research. In conclusion, MacPhee reflects on the possibility of reviving megafauna, discussing the successes of synthetic biology and genetic engineering—particularly efforts to resurrect the woolly mammoth.