"Within 500 years of the arrival of
humans between 2,500–2,000 years ago, nearly all of Madagascar's distinct,
endemic and
geographically isolated megafauna became extinct.
[74] The largest animals, of more than 150 kilograms (330 lb), were extinct very shortly after the first human arrival, with large and medium-sized species dying out after prolonged hunting pressure from an expanding human population moving into more remote regions of the island around 1000 years ago. Smaller fauna experienced initial increases due to decreased competition, and then subsequent declines over the last 500 years.
[25] All fauna weighing over 10 kilograms (22 lb) died out. The primary reasons for this are human hunting and
habitat loss from early
aridification, both of which persist and threaten Madagascar's remaining taxa today.[
citation needed]
The eight or more species of
elephant birds, giant flightless
ratites in the genera
Aepyornis,
Vorombe, and
Mullerornis, are extinct from over-hunting,
[75] as well as 17 species of lemur, known as giant,
subfossil lemurs. Some of these lemurs typically weighed over 150 kilograms (330 lb), and fossils have provided evidence of human butchery on many species."
