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
Pleistocene rewilding Homotherium), the American lion, dire wolf, and the American cheetah. Some carnivores and omnivores survived the end of the Pleistocene era and were widespread in North America until Europeans arrived, such as grizzly bears, cougars, jaguars, grey and red wolves, bobcats, and coyotes. The cheetah could serve as a substitute for "Miracinonyx", keeping the population of pronghorns in check. Jaguars could be reintroduced back to areas of North America to control populations of prey animals. Some of the larger cats such as the African lion could act as a proxy for the Pleistocene American lion, they could be introduced to