MESOAMERICAN FAUNA. The remarkable variety of wildlife that teemed in the region, no longer extent in many regions because of the presence of human habitation. Location of species varied throughout Mesoamerica. Some species were indigenous to different altitudes, like sites, rain forests or plains. The following extinct and continuing species were or are present in Mesoamerica during the prehistoric and/or historical periods.

Extinct Fauna. Animals living in the prehistoric periods, including the Paleo-Indian (11,000-7,000 B.C.) but now extinct. A combination of factors caused the decline and disappearance of such species, including changes in climate, excessive hunting and changes in the ecological balance of the various environments. Many species still present in Mesoamerica were in the region in the Paleo-Indian Period, but they adapted to alterations and flourished. The massive animals, called Mesoamerican megafauna, available to the earliest peoples entering the region that have since become extinct include camelids, giant sloths, glyptodons, mammoths, mastodons, and wild horses.