Scientists in Chile have concluded that the extinct gomphothere, which belongs to the elephant family, lived in the south of the country thousands of years ago and may have been the target of mass hunting by the people of the region.
Scientists came to this conclusion after they recently discovered fossils of gomphothers dating back 12,000 years near Lake Tagua Tagua branching off a glacier in southern Chile.
The weight of these large creatures was up to 4 tons, and their height could reach 3 meters, which led scientists to believe that they were the target of mass hunting in the area.
“The hypothesis that we are working on is hunting,” said Carlos Tornero, an archaeologist who works at the site. “We believe this is because gomphothers are a very large and dangerous animal and may require several people to hunt.”
The scientists say the discovery will also allow them to study the broader human impact on the region and how climate change has affected animals in the region during that time.
“We can get a lot of information from here, for example in relation to climate change, how it has affected animals ... the impact of humans on the environment is very much in line with what is happening now with regard to with the environment.”
