Many of the examples of gigantism result in animals that are relatively gentle, such as large turtles and birds. Some giant animals, though, are vicious predators.
The Komodo dragon is an enormous lizard that is the dominant predator on islands in Indonesia. A reptilian dominant predator is unusual in today's world. In yesterday's world, a now exinct 500-pound eagle in New Zealand was said to prey on humans. There are even giant insects that feed on animals, like the goliath birdeater in South America.
The opposite of gigantism is dwarfism, which causes large animals to be much smaller than normal. This happens when the animals’ environments are not conducive to growth: there is not enough food or there are too many predators. Elephants and hippopotamuses are two animals that have been found in dwarf proportions.
While it’s easy to marvel at the relative size of a dwarf or a giant animal, we should also acknowledge what their existence makes clear: All the wonders of nature can be explained by the wonders of science. It may just take some time to discover all of them!
- Excerpted from "The Ascent of Mammals" by Darlene Darwin
Which information is explicit in the passage?
All wonders in nature have been explained by discoveries in science.
Dwarfism occurs when there is not enough food or too many predators in an animal's environment.
Lizards are usually the dominant predators in their natural ecosystem.
Most examples of dwarfism occur in small rodents hiding from natural predators.