Pleistocene megafauna

Reference sites

University of Texas at Austin:http://cluster4.biosci.utexas.edu/deathvalley/Art/paleoart.htm

Denver Museum of Natural Sciencehttp://www.dmns.org/iceage/ia_giants/index.html

Kokogiac Mediahttp://www.kokogiak.com/megafauna/resources.asp

Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centrehttp://www.beringia.com/01/01maina1.html

Rancho La Brea Asphalt DepositsMillions of years ago, the area of Los Angeles and Rancho La Brea lay beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean. During this time, marine sedimentary layers formed and in some places these eventually became rich with fossil fuels produced from ancient sea life. When the ocean levels receded some 100,000 years ago, the area of Rancho La Brea became land. New layers of gravel, sand, and clay formed by the erosion of the emergent hills, and settled on top of the much older marine sediments full of oil.

At Rancho La Brea, the crude oil has been seeping out of the ground through conduits and fissures in the coastal plain sediments for the past 40,000 years, the seeps forming pools in low-lying areas.

Bison antiquus graze with Western quaggas (Equus occidentalis) on a grassy flat in what is today San Francisco Bay ca. 40,000 years BP.. Made famous by the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, these extinct mammals roamed over wide areas of the West during the Pleistocene epoch, which ended about 10,000 years ago.Western Quaggas (Equus occidentalis), related to today's zebras apparently, graze with Bison (Bison antiquus).

Harlan’s Ground SlothHarlan's ground sloth was

related to modern tree sloths, but were much

larger, standing about 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall and weighing 3,500 pounds

(1,600 kilograms). It had very large, powerfully-built

limbs and claws. Harlan’s ground sloth moved in an unusual manner, walking

on the backs of its forefeet and the sides of its hind

feet.

A scene in the low deserts of Imperial County, California of about 11,000 years ago, showing a Shasta ground sloth (Nothrotheriops shastense), an animal perhaps resembling something in between an anteater and a tree sloth. Plants include Agaves (Agave deserti), Calico cactus (Echinocactus engelmanni), and Brittlebush (Encelia farinosa). This small ground sloth was distributed over California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, west Texas,

southern Utah, northern Mexico, and southern Alberta.

Western Camel (Camelops hesternus)

Large-headed Llama (Hemiauchenia macrocephala)

North American had native camels 10,000 years ago. Today camels are native to Asia and

Africa. The extinct form probably looked like a large dromedary, with longer limbs, toes

not as flattened, and perhaps a mid- dorsal hump.

Dire wolf (Canis dirus) 

                                                                                          

      A pack of Dire wolves attacks a Western quagga (Equus occidentalis). This wolf had slightly shorter legs and a broader snout and heavier jaws than the modern Gray wolf (C. lupus). It may have been adapted to dealing with the larger prey fauna of the Pleistocene. The hyena niche may have been occupied by this species, as a hunter-scavenger on large animals. In particular, it may have taken advantage of feeding on the remains of Saber-tooth cat kills, as that predator could not ingest large bones with its long canine teeth. This large wolf has been made famous by depictions of the La Brea tar pits, where hordes of Dire wolves scavenge dying animals trapped in the tar.

University of Texas, Austin

Saber-toothed Cat (Smilodon fatalis)As its name indicates, the saber-toothed cat had large canines that were up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) long. Saber-toothed cats were about the size of modern African lions, and had short, powerful legs, indicating that they probably hunted by ambushing their prey rather than chasing them down. Remains of saber-toothed cats have been found throughout North and South America.

Denver Museum of Nature & Science

A pencil sketch showing two Saber-tooths stalking a herd of Western quaggas (Equus occidentalis) in a freshwater marsh with Tules (Scirpus sp.) in California's San Joaquin Valley. A Llama (Hemiauchenia macrocephala) walks beyond the herd, and an Asphalt

stork (Ciconia maltha) is in the distance. In the water are White pelicans, Shovelers, Ruddy duck, American avocets, and Western grebes. A Golden eagle soars overhead. A desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) wanders off into the Saltbush flats (Atriplex polycarpa).

Short-Faced BearThe short-faced bear was the largest carnivore in North America during the Ice Age. It was taller than the brown (grizzly) bear, with longer, more slender hind legs, and a relatively short face that was more reminiscent of a lion rather than any living North American bear. In North America, the short-faced bear occupied the high grasslands west of the Mississippi, from Alaska to Mexico. In these areas, it probably preyed upon bison, deer, and horses.

Teratorns (Teratornis spp.)Teratorns were related to condors, but were much larger usually. Three species were found as fossil in the western United States, and the above form, Merriam's teratorn (Teratornis merriami) was distributed in California, southern Nevada, Arizona, and Florida. It had an incredible wingspan of 11 to 14 feet. The extant California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) has a wingspan of 9 feet. These giant vultures as a group went extinct at the end of the Pleistocene, possibly from the reduction in large carcasses due to megafaunal extinctions. University of Texas, Austin.

North of the ice sheet

WOOLY MAMMOTH mammuthus primigeniusThis well known mammoth was a cold climate dweller equipped with a thick layer of fat for insulation, and an exterior of long black hair. It was smaller than most mammoths, and had a hump of fat behind its domed head. It fed on low tundra vegetation in which it scraped away snow and ice from with its ivory tusks. Several well preserved remains have been found in Siberia and Alaska and cave paintings in Spain and France show depictions of the Wooly Mammoth as seen by early humans. The mammuthus primigenius went extinct only about 10,000 years ago. TIME - Late PleistoceneRANGE - Europe / North America / AsiaDIET - Tundra vegetationSIZE - 9ft. (2.7m) high  

University of Texas, Austin

(- 1 millions d’années / - 4000 ans)

Migration pathways

(- 1 millions d’années / - 4000 ans) Iles de Wrangel

Iles de Wrangel(- 1 millions d’années / - 4000 ans) Iles de Wrangel

Iles de Wrangel

Dernier mammouth découvert à ce jour : Jarkov

Nature 456, 330-331 (20 November 2008) | doi:10.1038/456330a; Published online 19 November 2008

DNA sequencing: Mammoth genomicsMichael Hofreiter1 AbstractReconstruction of most of the genome sequence of the woolly mammoth illustrates how such investigations will pave the way for a deeper understanding of the biology and evolution of extinct species.Within the space of less than a decade, the development of high-throughput technologies has transformed the task of sequencing a mammalian genome from the years-long, multimillion-dollar endeavour it was originally, to a project that can be performed by an individual laboratory within a few months.

COLUMBIAN MAMMOTHThe Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) was the largest mammal to have been trapped in the La Brea Tar Pits. Some individuals stood over 13 feet tall. The mammoth migrated into North America from Asia about 2 million years ago. The Columbian Mammoth was larger, but less hairy, than the wooly mammoth which lived near the ice sheets in the northern end of the continent. The mammoth became extinct about 11,000 years ago - about the same time the first humans migrated into North America.The tusks of the Columbian mammoth were up to 14 feet (4.25 meters) long, and its washboard-like teeth were well-suited for chewing grass. TIME - Late Pliocene to Late PleistoceneRANGE - North America, south of the ice sheets.DIET - Mostly grass but also leaves.SIZE - 12ft (3.6 m) at the shoulders.WEIGHT - 10,000 lbs (4,600 kg)

University of Texas, Austin

(- 1,7 millions d’années / - 11 000 ans)

A herd of Columbian mammoths in a coastal California Redwood belt. These elephant-like beasts were 10 to 11 feet tall at the shoulder. Bulls had massive sweeping tusks, possibly used to shovel and scrape away brush or debris in feeding. Wear facets are deep and smooth the ivory, but are difficult to interpret, as the tusks grow in a spiral manner. Males also may have fought using the

tusks-- in Nebraska, two fossil mammoth skulls were found locked together.

(- 3 millions d’années / - 750 mille ans)

WOOLY MAMMOTHmammuthus primigenius

Columbian Mammothmammuthus columbi

American MastodonMastodons were distant

relatives of mammoths and elephants. In North America,

they were generally smaller than mammoths, standing

about 7-8 feet tall at the shoulder. Unlike the

washboard-like teeth of mammoths, mastodons had

blunt, cone-shaped teeth that were probably used to chew

leaves and pine needles in wooded areas.

Enter man . . .

Mellars, NATURE, 432, 462-465

Neanderthals200,000 BP to ~26,000 BP

Late Pleistocene Modern and Neantherthal sites in France

August 1856 workers quarrying limestone from a cave in the Neander Valley dug out a beetle-browed skullcap and some thick limb bones. Short, stout (males averaged about five feet, five inches tall and about 185 pounds), with massive muscles and a flaring rib cage presumably encasing capacious lungs. Neanderthal male would have needed up to 5,000 calories daily, or approaching what a bicyclist burns each day in the Tour de France. Neanderthal's brain with a volume slightly larger than our own today. Tools and weapons were more primitive than those of the modern humans in Europe.Controversy around the genetic relationship between Neanderthals and their European successors. Did the modern humans sweeping out of Africa beginning some 60,000 years ago completely replace the Neanderthals, or did they interbreed with them? In 1997 extract a tiny 378-letter snippet of mitochondrial DNA from 40,000-year-old specimen. DNA differed from living humans to a degree suggesting that the Neanderthal and modern human lineages had begun to diverge long before the modern human migration out of Africa. Thus the two represent separate geographic and evolutionary branches splitting from a common ancestor.

Homo Floresiensis

Morwood, NATURE, 431, 1087

Nature 444, 254 (16 November 2006) | doi:10.1038/444254a; Published online 15 November 2006

Neanderthal genome sees first lightRex DaltonAbstract

Initial sequences sheds light on common ancestor. Two research teams publish the first detailed glimpse of a Neanderthal genome this week, starting the race to unravel the genetic structure of modern man's closest relative. Articles in Nature1 and Science2 offer complementary yet contrasting views of nuclear DNA extracted from the same bone of a Neanderthal male who lived 38,000 years ago, found in a Croatian cave.

Modern human migration during late Pleistocene

Caverne Chauvet, France

Butchering siteLange, S. Dakota