
Why Past Mass Extinctions Survived—But We Might Not
2025-06-09
Author: Li
For eons, colossal creatures like mastodons, ancient rhinos, and giant deer have sculpted Earth's landscapes. A pivotal new study published in *Nature Communications* investigates how these majestic herbivores responded to fierce environmental upheavals and explains why their ecosystems managed to persist even as numerous species vanished.
A dedicated international team of scientists examined fossil records from over 3,000 large herbivores spanning 60 million years. Their findings reveal a striking stability in these ecosystems over extensive periods, even amid species extinctions. Fernando Blanco, the research's lead author from the University of Gothenburg, remarked, "Our research shows that large herbivore ecosystems remained remarkably stable, but twice in the last 60 million years, environmental pressures led to a complete global reorganization."