The Late-Pleistocene extinction of megafauna compared with the growth of human population

TL;DR

This study compares the timing of late-Pleistocene megafauna extinctions with human population growth, finding no correlation and suggesting humans had minimal environmental impact during that period.

Contribution

It provides evidence that human population growth was not a significant factor in megafauna extinctions during the late Pleistocene.

Findings

No correlation between megafauna extinction and human population growth.

Human population size and growth rate were too small to impact megafauna.

Extinction events occurred independently of human demographic changes.

Abstract

Time-dependent distribution of the global extinction of megafauna is compared with the growth of human population. There is no correlation between the two processes. Furthermore, the size of human population and its growth rate were far too small to have any significant impact on the environment and on the life of megafauna.