By Mindy Weisberger, Senior
Writer | November 7, 2017 06:40am ET
Thousands of years ago, the forests of the
Caribbean islands hosted more than 130 species of diverse mammal life, ranging
from sloths and giant monkeys to mammoths and oversize rats. But all that
changed after humans showed up, around 6,000 years ago.
After humans began populating islands in the
Caribbean, native mammal
species began to vanish from the region, according to the fossil
record. Today, mammal diversity in the Caribbean is far lower than it was
during the time after the last ice age, with only 60 bat species and 13
nonflying mammal species remaining. The story of when dozens of
mammal species went extinct is written in fossils, but why they died
out has been challenging for scientists to pinpoint.
However, a recent study that analyzed
extensive geological evidence alongside records of human migration revealed
that two waves of humans settling in the Caribbean — first from the Americas,
and then from Europe — dealt a one-two punch to native wildlife and were
chiefly responsible for driving so many Caribbean mammal species to extinction.
[Wipe
Out: History's Most Mysterious Extinctions]
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