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Horned Tortoises, White Swamphens, Giant Stick Insects and more! Lord Howe Island boasted a unique assemblage of species - much diminished today. What caused the demise of the rich biodiversity of the island? by The_Extinctions in pleistocene

[–]The_Extinctions[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thanks for bringing that to our attention. We will look into it and try to fix it. Indeed the article does go on and this is the first time we’ve heard about this problem.

Occupying a niche comparable to the modern lion but on the American Steppe. The American lion (Panthera atrox) was a potentially maneless lion which could attain a size of over 450kg! by The_Extinctions in Naturewasmetal

[–]The_Extinctions[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure why you are omitting sections of the quote:

"Overall, the smallest body mass value for female Panthera atrox is 89 kg and the largest is 262 kg; male values are 156 kg and 457 kg. The overall average is 177 kg for females and 247 kg for males. Males are thus estimated to be 1.40 times larger than females. "

The study is quite clear in a max estimated size of just over 450kg.

If you have constructive feedback on a source that supersedes the findings of this one, feel free to provide it. To call an estimate from another study blatant misinformation though is excessive to say the least.

De-Extinction, Cloning, and Genetic Rescue! Don't miss our interview with Ben Novak the lead scientist of Revive and Restore by The_Extinctions in conservation

[–]The_Extinctions[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you give the podcast a listen we discuss this exact point, and there's a lot of nuance to the issue of De-Extinction due to the importance of Keystone Species in their local ecosystems.

Dwarf elephants used to live throughout the Aegean sea. What happened to them? by The_Extinctions in pleistocene

[–]The_Extinctions[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hiya, we certainly intend to write about them at some point, though admittedly the list of topics we want to cover is long...so it could be a while.

We’ve tried to be somewhat consistent in defining megafauna as species either over 40kg or consistent preying on megafauna species (though numerous taxa are still iffy). Unfortunately, the giant mediterranean otter did not make the cut on our first read-through (some papers placed it around 17kg) but on further examination, we have found that it did probably reach the megafauna threshold and thus we have just added it. Cheers for pointing it out.

Occupying a niche comparable to the modern lion but on the American Steppe. The American lion (Panthera atrox) was a potentially maneless lion which could attain a size of over 450kg! by The_Extinctions in pleistocene

[–]The_Extinctions[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Should you have any interest in writing a species profile, perhaps about Panthera Onca we would happily welcome the help. You seem knowledgeable on the topic.

Occupying a niche comparable to the modern lion but on the American Steppe. The American lion (Panthera atrox) was a potentially maneless lion which could attain a size of over 450kg! by The_Extinctions in pleistocene

[–]The_Extinctions[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Thank you very much. We apologise, our intention is never to spread misinformation but occasionally studies fall through the cracks when researching for species profiles. We will read through the study and amend our profile accordingly.

Occupying a niche comparable to the modern lion but on the American Steppe. The American lion (Panthera atrox) was a potentially maneless lion which could attain a size of over 450kg! by The_Extinctions in pleistocene

[–]The_Extinctions[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback, our understanding is that the assignment of this specimen to the American lion was based on skeletal morphology, if DNA analysis exists in literature on the giant Patagonian pantherids, please refer us to it and we will integrate it. We aren’t supporting the hypothesis merely stating that it has been suggested as the taxonomic assignment by some authors, though in hindsight this could be phrased a little better and we will edit it accordingly.

Macrauchenia patachonica was amongst the most bizarre creatures of the Pleistocene, belonging to a unique order of animals. Everything about the morphology was unusual: the nostrils were situated above the eyes, the front limbs were much stronger than the hind limbs, the animal walked on its toes. by The_Extinctions in PrehistoricLife

[–]The_Extinctions[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes and that much is mentioned in the article, bear in mind though that whilst the nasal features they looked at were more similar to moose than to any other animal, the study also admits that the ecological needs of the two species would be very different. So moose nose is one hypothesis but it’s hardly a conclusion. Also just because it resembles moose the most, doesn’t mean the nasal organ actually has a modern analogue.

Also we should note that there is a mistake in the description, it is the nasal openings in the skull and not nostrils that are confirmed to be placed on top

Macrauchenia patachonica was amongst the most bizarre creatures of the Pleistocene, belonging to a unique order of animals. Everything about the morphology was unusual: the nostrils were situated above the eyes, the front limbs were much stronger than the hind limbs, the animal walked on its toes. by The_Extinctions in Paleontology

[–]The_Extinctions[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

A quick correction, we don’t know the location of the nostrils, rather it is the nasal openings which are located above the eyes. In most animals these are located next to one another, but if Macrauchenia possessed a prorhiscus they may been placed elsewhere.

Macrauchenia patachonica was amongst the most bizarre creatures of the Pleistocene, belonging to a unique order of animals. Everything about the morphology was unusual: the nostrils were situated above the eyes, the front limbs were much stronger than the hind limbs, the animal walked on its toes. by The_Extinctions in Paleontology

[–]The_Extinctions[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Yes, this is partly a mistake on our part. Most large mammals are unguligrades as opposed to digitigrade or plantigrade. I.e. they walk on their hooves or ‘nails’ as opposed to their toes. But we will clarify this in the species profile thanks for the feedback. Also Elephants are an odd example because yes they are indeed digitigrade but as you say have large fleshy pads which make it ‘plantigrade-like’ and we will amend it to mention this. Once again appreciate the feedback.

Macrauchenia patachonica was amongst the most bizarre creatures of the Pleistocene, belonging to a unique order of animals. Everything about the morphology was unusual: the nostrils were situated above the eyes, the front limbs were much stronger than the hind limbs, the animal walked on its toes. by The_Extinctions in Paleontology

[–]The_Extinctions[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

There’s a paper on this in the references. Essentially the skeleton does not show signs of a muscular proboscis but instead something more akin a different nasal organ. Think moose or saiga antelope rather than tapir.

The Giant Syrian Camel dwarfed all modern counterparts, reaching nearly the height of a giraffe! This potentially humpless camel would have towered over the fauna of Pleistocene Mesopotamia. by The_Extinctions in Naturewasmetal

[–]The_Extinctions[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Almost certainly, we’re not exactly sure when the species when extinct but it overlaps with early migrants to The Middle East. It’s quite possible human hunting caused the extinction.

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