What Killed the Mega Beasts

Kill, chill and ill--the title of Ted Nugent's latest cookbook? No, a trio of theories that attempt to solve the mystery of what caused the extinction of some of the world's largest mammals. Scientists call them “mega fauna” (which I guess is too wimpy-sounding for the title), with the most well-known being the wooly mammoth, but which also included such fierce animals as Australia's marsupial lion, a vicious creature described as a giant homicidal wombat with bolt-cutters for teeth. Not all of the creatures were fierce, some were simply gigantic, such as turtles the size of Volkswagen Beetles, or the giant beavers of North America. Combining effective computer-generated graphics and interviews with scientists, this Discovery Channel-aired documentary explores three distinct theories regarding the disappearance of these animals some 5,000 years ago at the end of the Pleistocene era: the "kill" theory, which suggests that humans hunted the giant beasts to extinction; the "chill" theory, which argues that an ice age made habitats inhospitable for the large beasts; and the "ill" theory, which asks whether a brutal and fast-spreading virus might have spelled the creatures' doom. One of the reasons why scientists are interested in the answer is that whatever killed these mega beasts might one day kill again. Sure to be popular with, among others, young dinosaur fans (although some of the fighting scenes are rather intense), this is recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (C. Block)