A trove of animal fossils found on a Bahamian island seems to suggest that humans were more destructive than naturally occurring forces like climate change.

Published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the new study detailed the fossils found on Abaco Island. Animals like crocodiles, tortoises, and iguanas survived the Last Ice Age only to be driven to extinction when humans moved in on them, Live Science reported.

"What we see today is just a small snapshot of how species have existed for millions of years," study lead author Dave Steadman, ornithology curator at the University of Florida (UF) Museum of Natural History, said in a press release. "The species that existed on Abaco up until people arrived were survivors. They withstood a variety of environmental changes, but some could not adapt quickly or drastically enough to what happened when people showed up.

"So, there must be different mechanisms driving these two types of extinctions. What is it about people that so many island species could not adapt to? That's what we want to find out."

The researchers detailed fossils found in the Sawmill Sinkhole in the middle of a forest on Abaco Island. Included in the collection of fossils were complete skeletons of crocodiles as well as other animals that likely fell to their death in the sinkhole.

But the study's larger implication was the affect humans had on the animals of the island, especially when combined with climate change.

"When humans change habitats at a rate that local species cannot keep up with, that can very quickly result in the losses," study co-author Hayley Singleton, a UF master's student, said in the release. "Likewise, even small climate changes can affect migration and significantly impact habitats. So, you can have the perfect storm where climate and human-driven changes are occurring at the same time, like we're seeing in places around the world today."