The late Pleistocene witnessed the extinction of 35 genera of large North American mammals. The last appearance dates of 16 of these genera securely fall between 12,000 and 10,000 radiocarbon years ago (≈13,800–11,400 calendar years B.P.). Whether the absence of fossil occurrences for the remaining 19 genera from this time interval is the result of sampling error or temporally staggered extinctions is unclear. The cause of the extinctions has been exceptionally tricky to resolve in NA because the time of extinction overlaps both a critical one for cli- mate change and the time that the Clovis people flourished, although it is hard to see why a more livable climate would lead to a mass extinction. There is no question that humans played a role in this ‘mass extinction in a geological instant’ in North America. Archeological sites that illustrate heavy human predation on large mammals in that time period include the 15,000 year old Mezhirich site 90 miles south of Kiev in the Ukraine there are 4 oval shaped dwelling built of 70 tons of mammoth bones from at least 200 kills (mammoths went extinct in Eurasia in the same period). One dwelling has an outer wall composed of 95 mammoth mandibles stacked on top of one another in a herringbone pattern. A site in Czechoslovakia has over 1000 mammoths. . The most spec- tacular accumulation of all exists at Solutre in France, where at the foot of a steep cliff extensive deposits more than 3 feet thick contain the bones of 10,000 to 100,000 horses, either driven to their deaths off the top of the cliff or ambushed in a narrow pass down below. (fm The Creative Explosion pg 60). In North America there is ample evidence of the heavy toll that Native Americans could take on the large mammals present in more recent times. A stampede of bison 150 miles southeast of Denver drove 190 of the animals over a cliff A wikipedia page titled ‘Buffalo Jumps’ notes that Native Americans “herded the bison and drove them over the cliff, breaking their legs and rendering them immobile. Tribe members waiting below closed in with spears and bows to finish the kills. The Blackfoot Indians called the buffalo jumps "pishkun", which loosely translates as "deep blood kettle". This type of hunting was a communal event which occurred as early as 12,000 years ago and lasted until at least 1500 CE, around the time of the introduction of horses. On all of the continents and islands where Homo sapiens was a recent arrival during the late Pleistocene and Recent Eras, there were die-offs of large animals. A recent dating of the extinction of a large flightless bird in Australia using an amino acid technique on eggshells indicates 50,000 years ago--just when Ab- origines arrived. Moas in Tasmania survived until humans arrived 800 years ago. In 1999 a rigorously tested radiocarbon dating showed that the last occurrence of ground sloths in Cuba was 6250 years ago, around the time that people first arrived there. Ground sloths went extinct on the continent 13,000 years ago. Of course, there was no large extinction event in Africa, where the megafauna and humans had co- evolved. In 1839 Charles Darwin wrote ‘It is impossible to reflect on the state of the American continent without astonishment. Formerly it must have swarmed with great monsters; now we find mere pygmies com- pared with the antecedent races. “ On pages 3 & 4 are images of 28 species of large mammals that went extinct at the end of the last glacial advance; 64 such species are listed below. Alfred Russel Wallace observed that on a global scale, ‘We live in a zoologically impoverished world, from which all the hugest and fiercest and strangest forms have recently disappeared." Pleistocene Mammal Extinctions compiled by Dana Visalli/[email protected]/www.methownaturalist.com A short-faced bear Arctodus simus, showing size relative to an adult human. Some weighedover a ton, twice the size of a grizzly bear.
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The late Pleistocene witnessed the extinction of 35 genera of largeNorth American mammals. The last appearance dates of 16 of thesegenera securely fall between 12,000 and 10,000 radiocarbon years ago(≈13,800–11,400 calendar years B.P.). Whether the absence of fossiloccurrences for the remaining 19 genera from this time interval is theresult of sampling error or temporally staggered extinctions is unclear.The cause of the extinctions has been exceptionally tricky to resolve inNA because the time of extinction overlaps both a critical one for cli-mate change and the time that the Clovis people flourished, althoughit is hard to see why a more livable climate would lead to a massextinction.
There is no question that humans played a role in this ‘mass extinction in a geological instant’ in NorthAmerica. Archeological sites that illustrate heavy human predation on large mammals in that time periodinclude the 15,000 year old Mezhirich site 90 miles south of Kiev in the Ukraine there are 4 oval shapeddwelling built of 70 tons of mammoth bones from at least 200 kills (mammoths went extinct in Eurasia inthe same period). One dwelling has an outer wall composed of 95 mammoth mandibles stacked on top ofone another in a herringbone pattern. A site in Czechoslovakia has over 1000 mammoths. . The most spec-tacular accumulation of all exists at Solutre in France, where at the foot of a steep cliff extensive depositsmore than 3 feet thick contain the bones of 10,000 to 100,000 horses, either driven to their deaths off thetop of the cliff or ambushed in a narrow pass down below. (fm The Creative Explosion pg 60).
In North America there is ample evidence of the heavy toll that Native Americans could take on the largemammals present in more recent times. A stampede of bison 150 miles southeast of Denver drove 190 ofthe animals over a cliffA wikipedia page titled ‘Buffalo Jumps’ notes that Native Americans “herded the bison and drove themover the cliff, breaking their legs and rendering them immobile. Tribe members waiting below closed inwith spears and bows to finish the kills. The Blackfoot Indians called the buffalo jumps "pishkun", whichloosely translates as "deep blood kettle". This type of hunting was a communal event which occurred asearly as 12,000 years ago and lasted until at least 1500 CE, around the time of the introduction of horses.
On all of the continents and islands where Homo sapiens was a recent arrival during the late Pleistoceneand Recent Eras, there were die-offs of large animals. A recent dating of the extinction of a large flightlessbird in Australia using an amino acid technique on eggshells indicates 50,000 years ago--just when Ab-origines arrived. Moas in Tasmania survived until humans arrived 800 years ago. In 1999 a rigorouslytested radiocarbon dating showed that the last occurrence of ground sloths in Cuba was 6250 years ago,around the time that people first arrived there. Ground sloths went extinct on the continent 13,000 yearsago. Of course, there was no large extinction event in Africa, where the megafauna and humans had co-evolved.
In 1839 Charles Darwin wrote ‘It is impossible to reflect on the state of the American continent withoutastonishment. Formerly it must have swarmed with great monsters; now we find mere pygmies com-pared with the antecedent races. “ On pages 3 & 4 are images of 28 species of large mammals that wentextinct at the end of the last glacial advance; 64 such species are listed below.
Alfred Russel Wallace observed that on a global scale, ‘We live in a zoologically impoverished world,from which all the hugest and fiercest and strangest forms have recently disappeared."
*The two starred species are extinct in North America but still exist elsewhere
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_animals_extinct_in_the_Holocene (names many species, not all)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_extinctions This timeline runs from 12,000 years ago to about the year 2000.
Mass extinctions of large mammals (and large birds) occurred on different continents and islands soon after humansarrived in those places. Graphic from The Diversity of Life by E.O. Wilson.