Pleistocene megafauna megafauna which are now extinct: giant lizards ("Gallotia goliath"), giant rats ("Canariomys bravoi" and "Canariomys tamarani") and giant tortoises ("Geochelone burchardi" and "Geochelone vulcanica"), among others. Pleistocene megafauna Pleistocene megafauna is the set of large animals that lived on Earth during the Pleistocene epoch and became extinct during the Quaternary extinction event. Megafauna is a term used to describe animals with an adult body weight of over 44 kg (97 lbs). The last glacial period, commonly referred to as the 'Ice Age', spanned 125,000 to 14,500 years ago and was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age
Plio-Pleistocene because the greater Plio-Pleistocene period covers the gradual but prolonged long-term cooling of the earth's atmosphere from the generally warmer temperatures of the late Oligocene / early Neogene times to and continuing through the Late Pleistocene—and indeed continuing through current times, if the present interglacial warming is considered as merely superimposed on the longer trend of cooling. Beginning about 3 mya, the late Pliocene saw the start of glaciation in the Northern Hemisphere, and many authors may informally use the term "Plio-Pleistocene" as a synonym for the period during which the Northern Hemisphere has been glaciated. Plio-Pleistocene The term Plio-Pleistocene