A team of scientists led by international conservation charity ZSL (Zoological Society of London) have collected evidence of human activity in Madagascar more than 6,000 years earlier than earlier thought -- which reveals that a totally altered extinction theory is vital to understand the vast biodiversity loss that has transpired on the island. Humans appear to have cohabited with elephant birds and other now-extinct species for over 9,000 years, seemingly with limited negative impact on biodiversity for most of this period, which offers new insights for conservation in today’s world.