megafauna

American  

[meg-uh-faw-nuh] / ˈmɛg əˌfɔ nə /

noun

1. Zoology.  large or giant animals, especially of a given area. Because megafauna tend to have long lives and slow population growth and recovery rates, many such species, as elephants and whales, are particularly vulnerable to overexploitation by humans.

2. Ecology.  animals of a given area that can be seen with the unaided eye.

3. Classical Mythology.  large or giant mythical creatures, often resembling a familiar animal, as a hellhound, or a composite of different animals, as a griffin.

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megafauna British  

/ ˈmɛɡəˌfɔːnə /

noun

1. the component of the fauna of a region or period that comprises the larger terrestrial animals

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megafauna Scientific  

/ mĕg′ə-fô′nə /

1. Large or relatively large animals of a particular place or time period. Saber-toothed tigers and mastodons belong to the extinct megafauna of the Oligocene and Pleistocene Epochs.

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Etymology

Origin of megafauna

First recorded in 1925–30; mega- + fauna

Example Sentences

"Such studies could fundamentally reshape our understanding of extinct megafauna as well as other species, revealing the many hidden layers of biology that have remained frozen in time until now," finishes Emilio Mármol.

From Science Daily

It had evolved to specialize in hunting megafauna — oversized, cold-tolerant, plant-eating mammals like mammoths and giant sloths and saber-toothed tigers.

From Salon

While the more flexible grey wolf is still around today, its large, dire cousin died out some 12,900 years ago, probably as a result of mass extinctions of the megafauna to which it was so well adapted.

From Salon

"What's striking to me is that this confirms a lot of data from other sites. For example, the animal parts left at Clovis sites are dominated by megafauna, and the projectile points are large, affixed to darts, which were efficient distance weapons," said co-lead author Ben Potter, an archaeology professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

From Science Daily

"If the climate is changing in a way that reduces the suitable habitat for some of these megafauna, then it makes them potentially more susceptible to human predation. These people were very effective hunters," said Potter.

From Science Daily