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I've been intrigued by this mystery for a long time and have thought about it a lot. I'm not persuaded that there's any evidence at all yet for anything, human or otherwise, causing the demise of the megafauna.

This was a worldwide event. The surprising thing was that it did not seem to affect animals weighing approximately 200 pounds and under. Why just the big creatures and not the little ones?

I've done my share of hunting and when I put myself in the place of a hunter armed only with a stone-tipped spear, I reach a certain conclusion. When I need to put meat on the table I'm going after small, less dangerous creatures than mastadon. If I need to bag a bunch of meat, slow-moving ground sloth look out!

Yet in Siberia and in Monte Verde, Chile, entire villages were constructed of mastadon bones and tusks. Why? My theory is that they were just lying there for the taking, the result of some disease or calamity, and made fine construction materials and tools. It's certainly true there's evidence that humans hunted mastadons. But given access to smaller prey it has never made sense to me that humans alone caused these massive extinctions.

No, megafauna did NOT die off everywhere. It remains, even to this day, in Africa and South Asia. The elephant, rhinocerous, hippopotamus, etc. all still live. What's interesting to me is, that these locations are where man evolved, especially since homo erectus, the first true human predator, from about 1 million years ago. Now everywhere else, megafauna did die off, and the timelines are right there during initial human contacts. The African and South Asian megafauna had a long relationship with homonoid hunters, and developed a fear and wariness about them, aiding their survival to this day (or until the modern steel plow and rifle). Those in Australia, North Eurasia, the Americas, Madagasgar and New Zealand had no experience with homonoid hunters until it was too late.

When I need to put meat on the table I'm going after small, less dangerous creatures than mastadon. If I need to bag a bunch of meat, slow-moving ground sloth look out!

Awwww, its like killing Bambi!

I've done my share of hunting and when I put myself in the place of a hunter armed only with a stone-tipped spear, I reach a certain conclusion. When I need to put meat on the table I'm going after small, less dangerous creatures than mastadon. If I need to bag a bunch of meat, slow-moving ground sloth look out!

I'm of the same mind as well .... think about hunting Grizzly bears .... now thing about doing it armed only with spears. NO THANKS.