Editing Megafauna (section)

== History ==
One of the earliest occurrences of the term "megafauna" is [[Alfred Russel Wallace]]'s 1876 work ''The geographical distribution of animals''. He described the animals as "the hugest, and fiercest, and strangest forms". In the 20th and 21st centuries, the term usually refers to large animals. There are variations in thresholds used to define megafauna as a whole or certain groups of megafauna. Many scientific literature adopt [[Paul Schultz Martin|Paul S. Martin]]'s proposed threshold of {{Convert|45|kg}} to classify animals as megafauna. However, for freshwater species, {{Convert|30|kg}} is the preferred threshold. Some scientists define herbivorous terrestrial megafauna as having a weight exceeding {{Convert|100|kg}}, and terrestrial carnivorous megafauna as more than {{Convert|15|kg}}. Additionally, Owen-Smith coined the term [[megaherbivore]] to describe herbivores that weighed over {{Convert|1000|kg}}, which has seen some use by other researchers.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Moleón |first1=Marcos |last2=Sánchez-Zapata |first2=José A. |last3=Donázar |first3=José A. |last4=Revilla |first4=Eloy |last5=Martín-López |first5=Berta |last6=Gutiérrez-Cánovas |first6=Cayetano |last7=Getz |first7=Wayne M. |last8=Morales-Reyes |first8=Zebensui |last9=Campos-Arceiz |first9=Ahimsa |last10=Crowder |first10=Larry B. |last11=Galetti |first11=Mauro |last12=González-Suárez |first12=Manuela |last13=He |first13=Fengzhi |last14=Jordano |first14=Pedro |last15=Lewison |first15=Rebecca |date=2020-03-11 |title=Rethinking megafauna |url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2019.2643 |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |language=en |volume=287 |issue=1922 |pages=20192643 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2019.2643 |issn=0962-8452 |hdl-access=free |hdl=2263/79439}}</ref>

Among living animals, the term megafauna is most commonly used for the largest [[extant taxon|extant]] terrestrial mammals, which includes (but is not limited to) [[elephant]]s, [[giraffe]]s, [[hippopotamus]]es, [[rhinoceros]]es, and larger [[bovines]]. Of these five categories of large herbivores, only bovines are presently found outside of [[Africa]] and [[Asia]], but all the others were formerly more wide-ranging, with their ranges and populations continually shrinking and decreasing over time. Wild [[equines]] are another example of megafauna, but their current ranges are largely restricted to the [[Old World]], specifically in Africa and Asia. Megafaunal species may be categorized according to their dietary type: [[herbivores|megaherbivores]] (e.g., [[elephants]]), [[carnivores|megacarnivores]] (e.g., [[lion]]s), and [[omnivores|megaomnivores]] (e.g., [[bear]]s).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Malhi |first1=Yadvinder |last2=Doughty |first2=Christopher E. |last3=Galetti |first3=Mauro |last4=Smith |first4=Felisa A. |last5=Svenning |first5=Jens-Christian |last6=Terborgh |first6=John W. |date=2016-01-26 |title=Megafauna and ecosystem function from the Pleistocene to the Anthropocene |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=113 |issue=4 |pages=838–846 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1502540113 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=4743772 |pmid=26811442|bibcode=2016PNAS..113..838M }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=McClenachan |first1=Loren |last2=Cooper |first2=Andrew B. |last3=Dulvy |first3=Nicholas K. |date=2016-06-20 |title=Rethinking Trade-Driven Extinction Risk in Marine and Terrestrial Megafauna |journal=Current Biology |volume=26 |issue=12 |pages=1640–1646 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2016.05.026 |issn=1879-0445 |pmid=27291051|bibcode=2016CBio...26.1640M |doi-access=free }}</ref>