There are numerous biggest and most magnificent species on earth, from sharks to giraffes, who are threatened with extinction. A latest study of the fossil record has indicated that once huge vertebrates disappear, they can’t be restored from evolution quickly, and for tens of millions of years, most animals remain tiny.

Earth has a number of biggest and most magnificent species, from sharks to giraffes, which are in danger of extinction. As per latest study of the fossil record, after the disappearance of large vertebrates, evolution can’t restore them quickly, and most animals remain small for tens of millions of years.

The study published in Science on Thursday has emerged from a study conducted by a paleontologist at the University of Pennsylvania, Lauren Sallan. During the study, she studied fish that lived during the Mississippian Period, from 359 million to 323 million years ago. She observed that they were considerably smaller as compared to their ancestors.

In an interview, Dr. Sallan said, “It piqued my curiosity. Why are these fish so small”? She has been given a nickname ‘the Sardine Queen’ by her fellow paleontologists.

Earlier, other paleontologists observed that some groups of species seemed to shrink in size with the passage of time. It is known as the Lilliput Effect, after people started living in the fictional island in Jonathan Swift’s ‘Gulliver’s Travels’.

Researchers noticed that the occurrence of Lilliput Effect often take place after unexpected and widespread extinctions. The fish studied by Dr. Sallan seemed to fit the pattern as they shrank following a mass extinction at the Devonian Period’s end, that is 359 million years ago.

According to scientists, this mass extinction was the result of a global chill that brought glaciers to the tropics.