Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Large or relatively large animals, as of a particular region or period, considered as a group.
Wiktionary
- n. The large animals of a given region or time, considered as a group.
- n. A treatise on such a group of large animals.
Examples
“In a future where all megafauna is extinct and where technologically advanced humans are highly skilled at genetic engineering, future people 500 years hence genetically create ungulate-like grassland people, cold-weather tundra people, scansorial forest and woodland people, and gilled, seal-like aquatic people (Dixon 1990).”
“I'm also researching Mongolian megafauna, which is a little too much fun, as it justifies things like watching Walking with Beasts and so forth.”
“Until twenty thousand years ago, giant mammals, the so-called megafauna, were found in the Cerrado.”
“Until the oversized beasts known as megafauna went extinct, our ancestors had to learn to survive on a landscape populated with creatures like sabre-toothed tigers, oversized eagles, and plodding giant sloths.”
“SYDNEY, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- A species of giant ancient turtle outlived most of the outsized, extinct animals known as megafauna -- until humans came along, Australian researchers say.”
“But about 13,000 years ago, not long after the first humans arrived in the New World, all but a few of these remarkable creatures--collectively known as megafauna--had vanished.”
“Minnesota and Wisconsin were populated by a variety of very large animals called megafauna which lived in the cold climate on the margins of the glacial ice.”
“The boys 'discoveries help illustrate and remind people of the large animals, known as megafauna, that used to live in Colorado during the Ice Age.”
“And in Canada designer Amy Nugent has taken things a step further, "harvesting" highway hits from bears and moose (what you might call megafauna) through to porcupines to fashion a celebrated jewellery range (www. roadquill.ca) that includes bracelets and tie slides.”
“megafauna" - large animals such as mammoths, bison, camels and mastodons.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘megafauna’.
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kickassery
words that kick ass, in the non-literal sense
keraunophilia, vituperative, archnemesis, megafauna, Brontotherium, haruspex, vainglory, immanent, tarasque, aurochs, fraktur, photophore and 75 more...
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je les adore!
fusillade, foal, celestial, abattoir, byzantium, berlin, casablanca, babylon, balkans, albion, avalon, between the devil... and 471 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, M
metamerism, malady, margin, marauder, maverick, mercury, mirth, mandible, macerate, meteor, manumission, mica and 292 more...
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The Collection
A somewhat discriminatory list of words and phrases collected for their euphonic or arcane appeal, interesting etymology, or concise definition of an otherwise unnamed phenomenon or concept.
ziggurat, neophilia, sucker punch, soporific, epoch, tundra, fiat, idiotproof, miscellany, metaphysics, cryptozoology, dysphoria and 850 more...
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Words of Dinosaurology
This quickly got bigger and weirder than originally intended, so now it's housing terms that relate to the study of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. See also Dinosaurs, Pterosaurs, Ichthy...
zygopophyses, ziphodont, plesiomorphic, cleidoic, endothermy, ectothermy, viviparous, vertebrae, cervical, dorsal, sacral, caudal and 628 more...
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...:::bella:::...
originally started as an attempt to collect words I found visually and auditorially beautiful, as well as psychically evocative, this has become nothing more than a grab bag of word curiosities, a ...
bergamot, jambalaya, bee's knees, heliotrope, hosanna, gamboge, aureole, filial, madrigal, multilingual, sacrosanct, sojourn and 1072 more...
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Sounding like a superhero
Words that sound like they could be the name of a superhero. Or supervillain. Or one of their weapons. Or some form of super paraphernalia...
narcissistic supply, nipple discharge, Radium Girls, exotic pollution, superior meatus, toxic megacolon, neuroblast, extinction burst, butterfly eruption, natural killer cell, spongiform pustul..., zonule of Zinn and 155 more...
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Swishy Burbles
Words with a certain flowing, silly sound to them; I may as well have found them in a James Joyce novel.
podlec, shuckling, woofits, splenetic, wodges, dromedary, chickabiddy, doodsmak, plashoot, clawscrunt, dwergmal, wherrit and 159 more...
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gorgonglare's list
the best
zeppelin, ion, laconic, serendipity, cataract, saturnine, syzygy, cinnabar, bistro, lithium, paroxysm, scion and 694 more...
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June 2010
subsidence, infauna, epifauna, taxa, macrofauna, megafauna, meiofauna, microfauna, biota, ikaite, pelagic, demersal and 16 more...
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the best words
megafauna, lugubrious, hotpants, rumpus, lurk, legume, sinew, serendipity, baraka, epididymis, omphaloskepsis, guffaw and 5 more...
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I like : M
mage, magisterium, magnificat, magus, mandalay, mandible, manifesto, mars, matryoshka, maying, maypole, megafauna and 34 more...
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ragnvaeig's Words
incarnadine, percolation, simulacrum, promethean, enchiridion, lugubriousness, adamantine, verisimilitude, cumulonimbus, silvern, sophister, hex and 50 more...
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pyeplant's Words
giblet, crackerjack, pocket, hoosier, chopsaw, slew, ratchet, pantuflas, wigwam, kettle, winter, dirigible and 44 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for megafauna.
reesetee Maybe you can arrange for visiting rights. Jan 7, 2009
yarb My daughter got two realistic model wooly mammoths (adult and juvenile) and a glyptodon for Christmas. I was sort of hoping she wouldn't like the adult mammoth, so that I could keep it on my desk at work. Jan 7, 2009
chained_bear YESSS!! Examples are here, and on other related lists.
It's such a cool word. Jan 7, 2009
ragnvaeig Large animals of a particular period, frequently referring to the Pleistocene era. Jan 7, 2009