Final answer:
After the last ice age ended, ocean levels rose because of the melting ice sheets, new forests appeared, and while some small animals adapted to the new environment, many large mammals including the woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats went extinct.
Step-by-step explanation:
Following the last ice age, which ended about 10,000 years ago, several significant changes occurred on Earth that shaped its ecosystems:
- As the climate warmed, the large ice sheets that covered much of the Northern Hemisphere melted, producing higher ocean levels and flooding previous land bridges.
- New forests appeared in regions that were once covered with ice, leading to the development of new ecosystems with a different array of flora and fauna.
- Many small animals did not die out; instead, in the millennia following the ice age, new species evolved and adapted to the changing environment.
- Some large megafauna, such as the woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats, went extinct, influenced by a combination of climate change, habitat loss, and possibly human hunting.