[Related: Researchers want to unlock the genetics of the world’s tiniest animals.]

When you beach your boat to have a look around, you can't believe what you're seeing – tiny boar-sized hippos and horse-sized elephants that look like babies to your eyes. There are so many of them, and you're hungry after the long journey.

Imagine growing up beside the eastern Mediterranean Sea 14,000 years ago. You're an accomplished sailor of the small watercraft you and your fellow villagers make, and you live off both the sea and the land.