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Pleistocene rewilding is the advocacy of the reintroduction of extant Pleistocene megafauna, or the close ecological equivalents of extinct megafauna. [1] It is an extension of the conservation practice of rewilding , which aims to restore functioning, self-sustaining ecosystems through practices that may include species reintroductions.
Over 50 genera (~ 83%) of megafauna in South and North America went extinct during the Pleistocene. [42] most mega mammals (>1000kg) and large mammals (>40kg) went extinct by the end of the Late Pleistocene. [43] During this period there was a major cooling event called the Younger Dryas and the Clovis culture of capturing game became more ...
Megafauna also play a role in regulating and stabilizing the abundance of smaller animals. During the Pleistocene, megafauna were diverse across the globe, with most continental ecosystems exhibiting similar or greater species richness in megafauna as compared to ecosystems in Africa today.
[4] [8] Overall, during the Late Pleistocene about 65% of all megafaunal species worldwide became extinct, [9] rising to 72% in North America, 83% in South America and 88% in Australia, [10] with all mammals over 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb) becoming extinct in Australia and the Americas, [1] and around 80% globally. [11]
Arctodus simus went extinct around 12,800 years ago, and is one of the most recently dated megafauna to go extinct in North America, being reliably dated to within the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary (13,800 BP - 11,400 BP). [241] [133] [242] Both local and regionalized dietary flexibility has been a factor suggested for the species' longevity. [87]
At the end of the last ice age, cold-blooded animals, smaller mammals like wood mice, migratory birds, and swifter animals like whitetail deer had replaced the megafauna and migrated north. Late Pleistocene bighorn sheep were more slender and had longer legs than their descendants today. Scientists believe that the change in predator fauna ...
The notoungulate mesotheriids and hegetotheriids also managed to hold on at least part way through the Pleistocene.) South America's small marsupials, though, survived in large numbers, while the primitive-looking xenarthrans proved to be surprisingly competitive and became the most successful invaders of North America.
Paul Schultz Martin, 2008, holding a dungball of the extinct Shasta Ground Sloth, with whom Martin claimed to have "a totem relationship." [39]Martin also championed the concept of Pleistocene rewilding [40] [41] [42] in which megafauna of the Pleistocene epoch that vanished in North America during the Holocene extinction could be restored by establishing breeding populations of close ...