Zap // hsu shu-yuu / Natural History Museum; Gaiser. F., Steinbauer MJ et al / fronters in biogeography
Elephant of straight prey (palaeoloxodon antiquus), artistic concept. In the background, species distribution map in Europe
If the straight prey elephant Palaeoloxodon old Who lived in Europe had not been eliminated by human hunt during the last ice age, about 50,000 and 34,000 years ago, he would currently have climatic conditions to survive on our continent, a new study concluded.
Europe is not known for its elephants. At least, three species of elephants that currently travel the earth – the African elephants LAfrican oxodonta e Loxodonta cyclotis and the Asian elephant Elephant biggest “They are not famous for wandering Europe.”
But there is not much time, the straight prey elephant Palaeoloxodon old He lived throughout the continent, having left a lasting trail on the European ground.
A new one, published last week in the magazine Frontiers in Biogeographyexamined these extinct herbivores again, which were eliminated by human hunt During the last ice age, between about 50,000 and 34,000 years ago.
The study, which recreated the distribution area and reconstructed the habitats of these paquidemes, concludes that Current climatic conditions of Europe they could still be suitable for the straight prey elephant “That is, if these elephants existed today.”
The elephants A. ancient lived in Europe for about 700,000 yearssurviving several ice ages before its disappearance.
“Fossil evidence shows that the A. ancient inhabited open environments or semi -open with mosaic vegetation, ”says Manuel Steinbauercologist at the University of Bayreuth in Germany and the main author of the study.
“This is one of the aspects that makes them similar to modern elephants,” adds the investigator, in a statement quoted by.
Another resemblance is the respective environmental impact. Modern elephants are “specialized ecosystem engineersand tend to shape your environment, Taking off the vegetation through the pasture and leveling geography by trampling.
During their time in Europe, straight prey elephants also changed their habitats, Keeping the forests unfortunate and open land which would otherwise have been filled.
“In the past, the megafauna like the elephant of straight prey and their respective regulatory mechanisms, such as grazingthey were omnipresent, ”he says Franka Gaiseralso ecologist at the University of Bayreuth and first author of the study.
“Many European species, particularly plants that thrive in open habitats, probably established their diversity in Europe because benefited from these ecological influences“Adds the researcher.
The landscapes that the A. ancient maintained could still be suitable for many of the native plants of Europe, but Could this species prosper in Europe Currently, if it had not been hunted until extinction?
A current climate for elephant landscapers?
In the hope of discovering it, the study’s authors analyzed previously published articles on fossils of A. ancient.
Assigning specific fossils to specific periods of hot and cold climateand consulting climatic models of these specific periods, the team got rebuild the areas of distribution and habitats do A. ancient throughout history.
Comparing these historical habitats with European habitats in the last 50,000 to 34,000 years, the team revealed that straight prey elephants could have survived to the present, considering only the climateif human hunt had not exterminated them.
According to the team, the results reveal the limitations of traditional conservation strategies in Europe, since these strategies typically try to maintain European ecosystems as they are, not how they were.
“Traditional conservation strategies in Europe aim mainly to protect biodiversity, protecting habitats from human activities“, Diz Gaiser.
“However, It is unlikely that this strategy alone restores the functionsLost megafauna ecological, including sustainable landscape modeling by the straight prey elephant, ”adds the ecologist.
It is possible that the reintroduction of existing herbivores, such as horses and cattlein Europe can compensate to some extent the loss of extinct herbivoreslike the straight prey elephants.
But it is unclear whether the existing megafauna could completely replace the extinct megafauna, at least with regard to its landscape modeling capabilities.
Although only time can say, it is possible that There is no other species Able to shape the European terrain just as an elephant of straight prey, the authors of the study conclude.
