Small Numbers of Humans Can Cause Big Creatures to go Extinct

It did not take a large human population to quickly hunt New Zealand's largest bird species to extinction.   A new study suggests there were less than 2,500 Polynesian settlers in New Zealand by the time the moa disappeared in the early 15th century.  Archeological evidence indicates human settlements on the islands were established in the early 14th century.   Researchers Richard Holdaway and Chris Jacomb analyzed moa eggshell pieces excavated from early...

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