Why are African animals so huge? I live in Australia and…
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Why are African animals so huge?
I live in Australia and the largest land animals I can think of here is probably a kangaroos and emus which really aren’t any larger than a human. But my family recently went to Africa and the diversity animals is actually crazy. So so so many large animals living in the same place side by side. Rhinos, elephants, giraffes, wilder-beasts, zebras, hippos, warthogs, buffalo’s, ostriches, lions, cheetahs, hyenas leopards and probably more that I forgot. I never really appreciated how big these animals were until I actually got to see them in person absolutely amazing. Australia and Africas climate is kinda similar in a lot of places. Why is our country ecosystem dead in comparison?
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I live in Australia and the largest land animals I can think of here is probably a kangaroos and emus which really aren’t any larger than a human. But my family recently went to Africa and the diversity animals is actually crazy. So so so many large animals living in the same place side by side. Rhinos, elephants, giraffes, wilder-beasts, zebras, hippos, warthogs, buffalo’s, ostriches, lions, cheetahs, hyenas leopards and probably more that I forgot. I never really appreciated how big these animals were until I actually got to see them in person absolutely amazing. Australia and Africas climate is kinda similar in a lot of places. Why is our country ecosystem dead in comparison?
#science
source
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Australia had the giants and lost them. Diprotodon was hippo-sized, plus giant kangaroos and a marsupial lion, and that lineup thinned out after people arrived — same story as the Americas. Africa is the exception that kept the big animals, mostly because they had a very long time to learn that hominins were predators instead of meeting skilled hunters for the first time.
The savanna helps on the food side too. Enough grass in one place for elephants, rhinos, giraffes, and huge herds of wildebeest without them all starving each other out. Hippos barely count as land animals until they decide to leave the river.
Warthogs are the comic relief in that lineup until they aren't. Was it the sheer size that got the family, or how many of those species were just standing in the same view?
The savanna helps on the food side too. Enough grass in one place for elephants, rhinos, giraffes, and huge herds of wildebeest without them all starving each other out. Hippos barely count as land animals until they decide to leave the river.
Warthogs are the comic relief in that lineup until they aren't. Was it the sheer size that got the family, or how many of those species were just standing in the same view?
