Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing palaeontology. For example, researchers have used AI to determine the impact of hominin evolution on prehistoric elephants. The complicated AI-driven statistical analysis revealed that proboscidean extinction rates increased when humans arrived. The research published earlier this year in the academic journal “Science Advances” indicates that humans were responsible for proboscidean species extinction rates increasing.

Researchers from the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) in collaboration with a colleague from the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Madrid, Spain) carried out the study. The research suggests humans increased extinction rates of prehistoric elephants over the last 1.8 million years.  AI was used to conduct a detailed Bayesian analysis.  They examined nearly two million years of data on proboscidean species.

Large elephants on display. (Mastodons and Mammoths).

Prehistoric elephants on display at the Senckenberg Museum (Frankfurt). The order Proboscidea was once extremely diverse. Over 180 fossil species have been described.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Human Evolution Resulted in the Extinction of Many Prehistoric Elephants

Previous studies linked climate change as well as human hunting to the extinction of iconic species such as the Woolly Mammoth and the American Mastodon. This research suggests human evolution caused the extinction of around 30 trunked species. Understanding extinction factors is challenging, especially for ancient species. Multiple factors often contribute, like environmental changes, physiological shifts, or new predators.

Most studies focus on a single factor. To address this, the researchers used a neural network-based AI system. This system assessed extinction using many factors in a complex Bayesian statistical analysis.

The team entered data for 2,118 proboscidean species from the last 35 million years. They included 17 factors that could affect survival chances. These factors included the arrival of early humans 1.8 million years ago and modern humans 129,000 years ago. The AI system identified humans as the main factor raising extinction rates. This impact started soon after humans appeared. Rates accelerated after the rise of modern humans. Today, only three elephant species remain.

The extant elephant species are:

  • African Savanna Elephant (Loxodonta africana): The largest species, found in various habitats across sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus): Found in various parts of Asia, including India and Southeast Asia, it is smaller than the African elephants.
  • African Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis): Smaller than the savanna elephant, it inhabits the forests of central and west Africa.

The scientific paper: “Trait-mediated speciation and human-driven extinctions in proboscideans revealed by unsupervised Bayesian neural networks” by Torsten Hauffe, Juan L. Cantalapiedra and Daniele Silvestro published in Science Advances.

The Everything Dinosaur website: Models of Prehistoric Animals.