Final answer:
Anthropologists estimate a fifty to ninety percent population decline of native Latin Americans during the sixteenth century, predominantly due to Eurasian diseases brought by Europeans.
Step-by-step explanation:
Anthropologists estimate that the population of native Latin Americans declined by approximately fifty to ninety percent during the sixteenth century. This catastrophic population decline was largely due to the introduction of Eurasian diseases such as smallpox and measles by European explorers and colonists, to which the indigenous populations had no immunity. The impact of these diseases was so severe that in Mexico alone, eight million people died. When compared to historical epidemics like the Black Death in Europe, which killed between thirty to fifty percent of the population, the decline of Native American populations represents an epidemic of even greater proportions.
The Spanish invasion of Middle America drastically reduced the number of Amerindian populations. Prior to European arrival, there were estimated to be between 15 and 25 million indigenous people; after a century of European colonialism, only about 2.5 million survived. This indicates a survival rate of merely one-tenth of the pre-contact population. The greater population densities and interconnected trade networks in Central and South America allowed for the rapid spread of diseases, resulting in massive depopulation.