The Extinctions of American Megafauna at the

Pleistocene/Holocene Boundary and Its Causes

Friday, March 20, 2015

ERTH2312
Jake MacLean
100884185

Abstract
The world has seen large changes in evolution throughout time, from the first
microbes to current day; there has been vast change and ever varying
organisms. Sometimes life was really small, sometimes it was very large, and
sometimes it was pushed almost into non-existence by mass extinctions.
Different events throughout Earths history have been thought of as the
causes of these extinctions. The diversity and hardiness of life is what makes
Earth so special and unique. Towards the end of the Pleistocene epoch,
2.88mya-11600 years ago, we saw larger mammals in the Americas than we
had ever seen before and may ever see again. They were the biggest
creatures, and some of fiercest predators to walk the earth since the time of
the dinosaurs. They were specialized and well adapted to their environment,
yet some force of nature was still able to drive the vast majority of them
extinct. The many theories as to how this could have happened are widely
varying. Some believe it was caused solely by the migration of humans into
North America as the Bering land bridge became ice-free. With our tools and
advanced intelligence we were too dangerous a predator for the megafauna
to live along side. Others believe that factors such as climate change drove
these massive creatures to extinction. In reality, it seems to be a combination
of climate change and the influx of humans to the Americas that drove the
Pleistocene megafauna to extinction. We had help from many of the large
carnivores living here at the time, decimating populations and leaving the
remaining to starve. Other natural factors that wiped out significant numbers,
such as the La Brea tar pits existed, but the driving force was the appearance
of humans.

Throughout geologic time we have seen a great diversity of both fauna and flora that have seen
heights of dominance and many extinctions, both large and small. The Pleistocene is the second
most recent epoch in geologic history, as a part of the larger quaternary era. The quaternary runs
from 2.588 million years ago to present, and is divided into the Pleistocene and Holocene. The
Pleistocene came to and end roughly 11,700 years ago [Collins] and with it we saw the extinction
of a large population of megafauna that roamed North America and most of the world for varying
spans of the epoch. The megafauna were widespread and well adapted, but 13000 years ago the
fossil record shows the beginnings of a mass extinction. [Weisman] These were animals who
roamed the world unscathed for upwards of a million years, and they were being killed off faster
than at any previous time. These megafauna were similar to many of the animals we see
throughout the world today, often related in many cases, with the only major difference being that
they were much larger. There were bears and wolves almost twice the size of those we see today,
sloths as large as elephants, and lions roaming much of North America [Weisman]. When we find
these fossils it makes us question our reality, our ancestors who discovered them, only a mere 200
years ago, were dumbfounded and confused with the sheer size of these animals, as they had
never seen anything close to this size. There have been many studies done to confirm the origins,
lifestyle, and climate in which these animals thrived for upwards of a million years [Weisman].
However, one of the most puzzling question is how could these mega-beasts be wiped out, what
or who could have possibly caused such a mass extinction in creatures as large and widespread as
the Pleistocene megafauna? There are multiple theories as to what caused the extinction of the
megafauna, and the answer may not be as simple as just one of them, but more than likely it is
some combination thereof [Weisman]. We will look at whether human hunting, climate change,
the array of large predators we know to have existed could have caused the extinction.
Before the Humans
To begin, we need to understand the sheer size of the animals in comparison to those we see
today. A polar bear is one of the largest carnivores to roam the North American wilderness, males
weighing in around an average of 800 pounds, with some of the biggest known male individuals
reaching sizes of roughly 1700 pounds, and females being slightly smaller. These polar bears are
roughly 8-9 feet from nose to tail. [Defenders 1] A wolf is a dangerous predator, so much so that
we have almost wiped them out completely over the last 150 years. They used to be common
throughout much of North America, before we drove them to the brink of extinction. A large male
wolf may come in around 110 pounds. [Defenders 2] If we start to compare our carnivorous
North American mammals of recent times to those of the Pleistocene, we will get a picture of
how large the predators really were, and the dangers they posed to the earliest settlers of North
America. For instance, we can look no further than the short faced bear.
The short-faced bear was the largest bear to have ever existed and also the fastest. Estimations
put the weights of the average bear anywhere between 1600-1900 pounds, both male and female.
These bears were also much taller than any bear we currently know, with average heights being
11-12 feet, with some of the largest growing up to as much as 14-15 feet. [Extinct] Figure 1
shows a skeleton of a short-faced bear in comparison to the modern grizzly bear and brown bear.

[Nelson and Harrington] While keeping this size in mind, researchers also estimate that these
bears could cover as much as 30-40 miles an hour, due to forward pointing toes, different from
the pigeon-toe characteristic we see on modern bears. [Extinct] Some further research of the bone
structure and composition indicates high nitrogen levels, which in turn describe a diet that was
mostly if not entirely carnivorous. This carnivorous diet was shared with most of the large
predators of the time, with the smaller animals such as a black bear opting for an omnivorous
diet. [Prehistoric] However, the structure and thickness of the bones indicate that this animal was
likely not the predator, but a voracious scavenger, as the front leg bones would likely have
shattered rather easily if the bear attempted an attack. [Prehistoric] Keep in mind that a bear of
this size moving this quickly and widely would have had to consume upwards of 35 pounds of
meat per day, just to survive. [Prehistoric]
Another example of a large Pleistocene predator would be the dire wolf. The dire wolf is the
largest member of the canis genus to have ever lived. It was much larger than the grey wolves we
see today, weighing anywhere from 125-175 pounds. [World] The dire wolf (canis dirus) is
considered to be one of the most populous predators of the Pleistocene, being discovered at as
many as 139 sites across North America alone. [Dundas] We start to see a pattern when we look
at the areas of mass extinction for the dire wolves, as the carbon dating puts most of the fossils at
an age of anywhere from 13,000 to 10,000 years ago. Some of these sites have been called into
question due to known errors with the methods of dating, however, there are no fossils found
once we move from the Pleistocene into the Holocene. [Dundas]
The carnivores of the Pleistocene are not the only species that were much larger than those of
today. The omnivores and herbivores were much larger than current ones as well. In North
America today, the largest mammal is the wood bison, weighing in at nearly 2000 pounds.
[Koren] Their numbers have been nearly wiped due to the spread of agriculture through their
habitat, nearly forcing them to the brink of extinction. Estimates say there are 4400 in Canada
today, when you compare that to the estimated 168,000 in the 1800s it is easy to see the impact
and velocity with which humans can decimate a population. [Koren]
The Pleistocene saw even larger omnivores and herbivores throughout North America, such the
ground sloth, giant beaver and woolly mammoth. The ground sloth, known as megalonyx
jeffersonii, was massive in comparison to any sloth today. This particular sloth was discovered in
part and named for Thomas Jefferson. It was the size of an ox, being anywhere from 2.5-3 meters
in length. [Jefferson] The last fossils of the megalonyx jeffersonii lead to the belief it went extinct
around 9400 years ago. [Jefferson] Another of the megafauna herbivores from this time period is
the giant beaver. In comparison to a modern beaver, castoroides ohioensis is much larger. An
average modern beaver is about one meter long and weighs roughly 60-70 pounds. The average
giant beaver of the late Pleistocene was only 1.6 meters long but may have weighed up to 200
pounds. [Giant] Finally, the most well known of all the megafauna is the woolly mammoth and
American mastodon. These large elephant like creatures were the last symbols of the glaciation
that ended in North America around 10,000 years ago. They provided large prey for the vast
majority of large carnivores roaming North America at the time. Their carcasses would provide
meals for packs of dire wolves, and short-faced bears, whose large stature would allow them to
scare off a group of 5 or 6 wolves, could scavenge their remains. [Prehistoric] There are many
mass graves of these two large mammals, but their cause of death is much easier to determine. It
came from a predator new to the North American continent, and it was forged of rock. The clovis

point, and other similar weapons, were the first ones of their kind in North America. These new
predators were unknown to the megafauna living here, and this unfamiliarity was the beginning
of the end. [Haynes]
The Human Impact
Evidence suggests that humans migrated into North America, at the earliest, 16,000 years ago.
This is when glaciation in the northwest would have subsided enough to allow settlers to pass
through the Bering straight. (At the time it was a land bridge) [Dixon] Through radiocarbon
dating of human remains, we start to see some of the earliest evidence of settlements occurring
around 13,000 years ago. [Dixon] Further evidence suggests settlements along the northwest
coastal area as early as 15,300 years ago. [Dixon] Figure 2 shows the retreat of the ice sheets
covering North America, and how there would have been clear travel pathways for humans
roughly 16000 years ago. [Kitchen] Humans have always been very resourceful and adaptable,
which has led to our advancement into a species that has the power to alter the planet in ways that
were never seen before we evolved to our current state. We have left a mark on every corner of
the globe, changing landscapes and ecosystems for our benefits, and not always regarding the
natural order of things. Our impacts are of great size, and sometimes they are on things of great
size. In many opinions, this was the case as we made that fateful journey across the Bering land
bridge onto the unexploited terrains of North America. We brought a new and unknown threat to
the inhabitants, the clovis spear. Pictures of the different clovis spear points can be seen in figure
3. [Bostrom] They are long pointed rocks anywhere from 1-5 that made for deadly weapons
when attached to the spear. This allowed for humans to extend their reach and attack with a
velocity that otherwise would not have been possible. [Clovis] As the new settlers evolved their
hunting styles, they were even fashioning a make shift throwing knife, further extending their
range and ability to attack. [Clovis] To the megafauna of North America, the humans were an
unknown, new predator, and therefore they lacked the survival instincts that would have
otherwise identified them as dangerous, and were not adaptable enough to quickly adjust to this
new threat. [Haynes] There are many sites where we see mass graves of mammoths and
mastodons that are full of clovis points, indicating the efficiency this tool allowed for the humans
to have in their hunting tribes. [Haynes, Weisman] While it is clear that we can see a relationship
between the arrival of humans and the decline of the megafauna in North America, there are still
people who are of the opinion that humans alone could not have possibly wiped out the massive
populations that existed before their arrival. [Haynes]
While the large herbivorous megafauna may have not recognized the humans as predators due to
their new arrival, that still does not account for such a large extinction, including some very
ferocious predators that were more than agile enough to survive against humans even with their
clovis points. Mosimann and Martin published findings in 1975 that it would only take roughly
12 years of human nomads living in an area to cause a local extinction. [Janzen] This means that
the herbivores in a large enough area would find their numbers decimated in a very short time,
geologically speaking. Even in ecosystems today we can see the impact up the food chain if a
single resource is removed. The carnivorous megafauna would be left starving and looking for
food sources that no longer existed in their home range. Daniel H. Janzen explains the basic idea
eloquently in his 1983 paper, Nomadic hunters move into a new area, severely deplete the large
herbivores, and leave the starving carnivores to eliminate the remainder of the large prey.
[Janzen] He goes on to explain that leaving these carnivores on starvation-level diets would

severely disable their abilities to reproduce and add increasing competition for survival on
carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores left within the ecosystem after the nomads had moved on.
[Janzen] If we take into account that there was a continually improving, growing, hunting
population, we can understand the mass multiplying effect this would have over the continent in a
matter of a few hundreds to a thousand years. This extinction event was thought initially to have
been relatively slow, maybe over the course of 2000 years or so [Haynes], however, it is now
thought that it may have been much more rapid, around 400 years. It was also initially believed
that there were relatively few species wiped out, only 9 species were thought to have gone extinct
in the original 2000-year period. Further evidence suggested that that the rapid event caused at
least 17 megafauna species to go extinct, and hypotheses suggested it was probably all 35 North
American species and 37 South American species as the clovis people and the descendants began
to colonize the Americas. [Haynes]
It has been proven that humans are more than capable of bringing down animals far larger than
us, even as long as 12,000 years ago. We were more than proficient at using the hand propelled
weapons that we had available at the time. These weapons proved more than adequate in bringing
down any prey we wanted. [Clovis] It is not a question of if the Pleistocene hunters were
interested in the megafauna as prey, but more of a question as to why these animals made for
good targets. While exploring the personal motivations of Paleoindian hunters is well beyond
our interpretative capacities, we can still look at the logistics of why these megafauna would
have been such desirable kills. [Haynes] One definite reason is our competitive instincts, both for
ourselves and to show off to our tribe, we would want to kill the biggest and toughest animals as
a show of our dominance. If these social values similar to how we act today were in place at any
level, then the large prey was of huge importance when killed by hunters. [Haynes] This is just
human nature, however this showing off was not a big enough reason for these large animals to
be our targets alone. It is also true that larger kills would provide more resources for a group of
people, in food and in bones for creating more tools. However, larger kills would also attract
larger carnivores hoping to scavenge a meal, so the risk bust have outweighed the reward for
some other reason as well. One of these factors is the assumption that larger animals have lower
population densities, and this means that a group of hunters is far less likely to come across the
largest of animals. [Haynes] When they did indeed cross paths with these animals, they therefore
saw huge opportunities for resource gain that may not occur again for quite a long time, and must
be capitalized on. [Haynes]
Climate as an Impact
The changing climate of North America that allowed the humans to migrate into the continent in
the first place also contributed largely to the changing of the faunal species. As the last glaciation
retreated we would have seen some of the species suited for the cold migrate northwards to
maintain their ideal habitat. [Weisman] Coupling this with the influx of human hunting, depleting
populations, and now spreading biomass as the liveable space on the continent grew larger, it
would have made easy meals of large herbivores much more difficult to come by for the predator
population. [Weisman] The difference in warming temperatures that occurred between the
Pleistocene and Holocene has also been a pointed piece of evidence for climatic causes
contributing to the extinction of the megafauna. As climate got warmer the vegetation likely
changed and megafauna who were unable to adapt to new diets likely went extinct. [Haynes]
However, it is pointed out that when this new wave of warming began 11,600 years ago, some of

the most notable megafauna were already 1000 years extinct. [Haynes] This means that while
climate change did play a factor in the extinctions of some megafauna, the rapid warming period
marking the end of the Pleistocene cannot be seen as the full and total cause for the extinctions.
[Haynes]
Other Causes of Mass Death
There are many other hazards connected to the extinction of many megafauna in North America
as the Pleistocene came to an end. The La Brea tar pits in what is now southern California are no
exception. Tar pits are areas where oil deposits have come close to the surface and are leaking out
to the surface as asphalt like material. [Harris and Jefferson] Once an animal became trapped in
the tar, there was little to no chance of escape, and just like quick sand, the more an animal
struggled the quicker they would be swallowed up by the pits. [Prehistoric] Studies have been
done on the fossil assemblages here, as it is one of the biggest and most well preserved areas
where we can see large varieties of different species from during the Pleistocene all in one spot.
The tar pits are thought to have begun seeping roughly 40,000 years ago and while this may not
be part of our extinction date, it gives a thorough look into the different megafauna that we know
were alive during this period of time up until their extinction. While most animals living at the
time were likely wise to the danger of the area and stayed away, we do see a remarkable number
of fossils found here, and interestingly a large number of them are carnivores. To account for
90% of the fossils being found here, we can assume that there may be two different scenarios that
are more than likely. [Harris and Jefferson] One of these is that, with some regular occurrence,
large animals would become trapped here. These trapped animals would attract the attention of
scavenging animals such as the short-faced bear. Once the bear got close enough to the trapped
animal, it too would become trapped in the tar pits. [Prehistoric] This is not enough to account for
the large bias of predators found in the tar pits so we must assume another scenario also took
place. We can look at how many carnivores travel in packs. These packs may have chased down a
much larger prey animal, getting lost in the hunt and not realizing they were running into the tar
pits. The pack of carnivores along with their prey would then become trapped in the tar pits.
[Harris and Jefferson] The combination of the two scenarios largely accounts for the proportion
of carnivores we see in the tar pits, and while not a major contributing factor of extinction, we
still receive excellent insight into what life in North America was like during the Pleistocene.
Figures 4 gives an idea at where the La Brea tar pits are situated, right downtown modern day
Los Angeles. Figure 5 gives visualization to the massive concentration of just how many animals
lives were claimed by the tar pits.

Conclusion
Extinctions are nothing new to Earth, it has experienced mass extinction after
mass extinction throughout geologic history. Natural forces caused many of
these events, whether those were asteroid impacts, volcanism, climate
change for the warmer or colder, or some combination of causes. Most of
these events occurred long before humans had evolved. The most recent
mass extinction of the Pleistocene American megafauna, however, occurred
intriguingly parallel to the time it is believed humans spread throughout the
Americas. Many people have questioned whether this extinction event could
be contributed directly to the influx of a human population or if, like most
other extinctions, it was natural factors at play. As discussed, the humans
were a lethal hunting force from the moment they stepped foot on American
soil. Their advanced weapons, unperceivable threat to megafauna, and
nomadic nature all contributed to a widespread decimation of populations
throughout the Americas. When this is coupled with changing habitat due to
the end of a period of glaciation, increasingly starving predator populations,
and other natural threats to survival, it can be seen that this extinction
happened much to fast to have been caused by strictly natural causes. In
conclusion, we can safely say that while the humans were not the only direct
cause of the end Pleistocene American megafaunal extinctions, it is clear that
they both aided and accelerated a process that would have occurred much
more slowly if at all, had they never migrated to across the Bering land
bridge some fateful 16000 years ago.

Figure 1. The short-faced bear in comparison to the average size of the

modern grizzly and brown bears, respectively. [Nelson and Harrington]

Figure 2. The retreat of the ice sheets from 43kya to 16kya. At 16kya, there
were clear pathways through which humans could have entered North
America. [Kitchen]

Figure 3. A collection of clovis spear points found in Eastern North America.

Estimated to be of an age of roughly 10,500-12,000 years old. [Bostrom]

Figure 4. The map shows the location of the La Brea tar pits in modern day
California, situation right in the middle of Los Angeles. [Harris, John]

Figure 5. Early excavations of the La Brea tar pits in the early 1900s. This
shows the concentration of bones that have been found here, roughly totally
1 million bones were found across all of the tar pits sites. [Harris, John]

Bibliography

Collins, Allen G. "Geologic Time Scale." Geologic Time Scale. N.p., 26 May
2011. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/help/timeform.php>.
Weisman, Alan. "Chapter 5 - The Lost Menagerie." The World without Us. New
York: Thomas Dunne /St. Martin's, 2007. N. pag. Print.
"Basic Facts About Polar Bears." Defenders of Wildlife. Defenders of Wildlife,
24 Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Mar. 2015. <http://www.defenders.org/polarbear/basic-facts>.
"Basic Facts About Gray Wolves." Defenders of Wildlife. Defenders of Wildlife,
14 Mar. 2012. Web. 15 Mar. 2015. <http://www.defenders.org/gray-wolf/basicfacts>.
"Extinct Short-faced Bear." North American Bear Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 10
Mar. 2015. <http://www.bear.org/website/bear-pages/extinct-short-facedbear.html>.
Nelson, Lisa W., and C. R. Harrington. "Short-Faced Bear 1." Beringia.
Canadian Museum of Nature, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.hanskrause.de/HKHPE/hkhpe_53_04.htm>.
Prehistoric Predators - Giant Bear. National Geographic, 2007. Online.
"World of the Wolf - Canis Dirus." World of the Wolf - Canis Dirus. N.p., n.d.
Web. 12 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.naturalworlds.org/wolf/history/Canis_dirus.htm>.
Dundas, Robert G. "Quaternary Records of the Dire Wolf, Canis Dirus, in North
and South America." Boreas 28.3 (1999): 375-85. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.fresnostate.edu/csm/ees/documents/facstaff/dundas/publication/
Dundas-1999.pdf>.
Koren, Marina. "North America's Largest Land Mammal Is Coming Back to the
United States." Www.nationaljournal.com. National Journal, 13 May 2014.
Web. 15 Mar. 2015. <http://www.nationaljournal.com/domesticpolicy/northamerica-s-largest-land-mammal-is-coming-back-to-the-united-states20140513>.
"Jefferson Ground Sloth." Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre. Yukon Beringia
Interpretive Centre, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.beringia.com/research/ground_sloth.html>.

"Giant Beaver." Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre. Yukon Beringia

Interpretive Centre, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.beringia.com/research/beaver.html>.
Haynes, Gary. American Megafaunal Extinctions at the End of the Pleistocene.
Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer, 2009. Print.
Dixon, E. James. "Athena Review 3,2: Peopling of the Americas: How and
When Did People First Come to North America?" Athena Review 3,2: Peopling
of the Americas: How and When Did People First Come to North America?
University of Colorado, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.athenapub.com/10Dixon.htm>.
Kitchen,Andrew,ConnieJ.Mulligan,andMichaelM.Miyamoto."AThreeStageColonization
ModelforthePeoplingoftheAmericas."PLOSONE:.N.p.,13Feb.2008.Web.18Mar.2015.
<http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0001596>.
Bostrom, Peter A. "Six Large Eastern Clovis Points Page 1." Six Large Eastern
Clovis Points Page 1. N.p., 30 Sept. 2003. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.lithiccastinglab.com/gallerypages/clovispoints6easternpage1.htm>.
"Clovis Traditions." Clovis. UManitoba, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/manarchnet/chronolog
y/paleoindian/clovis2.html>.
Janzen, Daniel H. "The Pleistocene Hunters Had Help." The American
Naturalist 121.4 (1983): 598. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.
Harris, J. M., and G. T. Jefferson. "The La Brea Tar Pits." La Brea Tar Pits.
Natural History Museum Of Los Angeles County, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/quaternary/labrea.html>.
Harris,JohnM."NaturalHistoryMagazine."NaturalHistoryMagazine.NaturalHistory
MuseumOfLosAngelesCounty,July2007.Web.18Mar.2015.
<http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/htmlsite/master.html?http%3A%2F
%2Fwww.naturalhistorymag.com%2Fhtmlsite%2F0607%2F0607_feature.html>.