6/30/2023 0 Comments Gary schwartz dna doctor![]() ![]() "The lessons from lemur extinctions have profound implications for conservation biology and the fragile nature of living ecosystems. "Giant lemurs had few, if any, natural predators on Madagascar, so they would have been naive and relatively easy prey items. "The evidence is unequivocal that the early colonisers butchered and ate giant lemurs, as well as other large extinct species like the pygmy hippo and elephant birds," he says. William Jungers, professor of anatomical sciences at Stony Brook University, agrees with the findings. Several species were omnivores that ate just about everything. Some also had "dog-like" noses and lapped water like a dog. He says giant lemur babies had gestation periods longer than nine months and were born with full sets of teeth. The biggest lemur living today weighs only around 7 kilograms. "Some had long, narrow faces, long forelimbs and huge feet," says Schwartz, assistant professor of physical anthropology at Arizona State University.Īt about 90 kilograms, they were about the size of a female gorilla. The giant lemurs, which began to die out 2000 years ago, also were "remarkable" animals, according to Gary Schwartz, one of the leaders of the ongoing giant lemur research project. ![]() Their 30 centimetre eggs were bigger than any dinosaur egg, and were the largest single-celled objects ever to have existed on Earth. They stood about 3 metres tall, weighed around 500 kilograms and had dinosaur-like feathered bodies. Previously, researchers found evidence for butchery on bones from extinct pygmy hippo bones, on a tooth of a type of lemur called an aye-aye, and extinct elephant birds.Įlephant birds (Aepyornis maximus) were particularly unusual creatures. Perez, an anthropologist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, adds that "careful scrutiny of the characteristics of the cut marks has allowed us to document butchery beyond any reasonable doubt". These suggest skinning, disarticulation, or amputation at a joint, and filleting, says Ventura Perez, lead author of the paper, which will be published in the November issue of the Journal of Human Evolution. These included sharp cuts and chop marks near joints, oblique cuts along the shafts, spiral fractures, and percussion striae or skin stretch marks from pounding. Lemurs' huge ancestors were apparently easy, meaty targets for early Madagascans, since researchers have just identified "definitive evidence of butchery" on the extinct lemur bones. Today's lemurs are the last living link to ancient primates that have a common link to the lineage that evolved into humans. The study is part of ongoing research on the life and death of giant lemurs. While the report does not rule out disease, fire and other factors that could have contributed to the giant lemurs' demise, it adds to the growing body of evidence that modern humans adversely affected the populations of prehistoric animals. Other animals the settlers feasted on when they arrived at the Indian Ocean island included birds that were about 3 metres tall, scientists say. ![]() The first humans that settled Madagascar around 2000 years ago probably hunted to extinction giant lemurs and other unusual animals, an upcoming report suggests. Early inhabitants of the island of Madagascar butchered giant versions of this lemur (Image: USGS) ![]()
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