Humans drive animal size shifts over 1,000 years
Human impact drives domestic animals larger, wild ones smaller over 1,000 years.
Why it matters
- Reveals long-term human impact on animal sizes.
- Highlights ecological shifts due to domestication.
By the numbers
- Analyzed 225,000 bones from 311 sites spanning 8,000 years.
- Wild mammals now comprise only 4% of total mammal biomass on Earth.
The big picture
- Human activities like agriculture and urbanization drive size changes.
- Wild mammals now far outweighed by humans and livestock.
Caveats
- Study focused on Mediterranean France.
What’s next
- Need for sustainable domestication practices.
- Importance of habitat conservation.