TPO 54 – Passage 2 overkill of the North American Megafauna

Overkill of the North American Megafauna

1Thousands
of years ago, in North America's past, all of its megafauna—large mammals
such as mammoths and giant bears—disappeared. One proposed explana on for this event
is that when the rst Americans migrated over from Asia, they hunted the megafauna to
ex nc on. These people, known as the Clovis society a er a site where their dis nc ve
spear points were rst found, would have been able to use this food source to expand their
popula on and ll the con nent rapidly. Yet many scien sts argue against this 'Pleistocene
overkill' hypothesis. Modern humans have certainly been capable of such dras c e ects on
animals, but could ancient people with li le more than stone spears similarly have caused
the ex nc on of numerous species of animals? Thirty- ve genera or groups of species (and
many individual species) su ered ex nc on in North America around 11,000 B.C., soon a er
the appearance and expansion of Paleo-lndians throughout the Americas (27 genera
disappeared completely, and another 8 became locally ex nct, surviving only outside North
America).

2Although
the climate changed at the end of the Pleistocene, warming trends had
happened before. A period of massive ex nc on of large mammals like that seen about
11,000 years ago had not occurred during the previous 400,000 years, despite these
changes. The only apparently signi cant di erence in the Americas 11,000 years ago was the
presence of human hunters of these large mammals. Was this coincidence or cause-and-
e ect?

3We
do not know. Ecologist Paul S. Mar n has championed the model that associates the
ex nc on of large mammals at the end of the Pleistocene with human preda on. With
researcher J. E. Mosimann, he has co-authored a work in which a computer model showed
that in around 300 years, given the right condi ons, a small in ux of hunters into eastern
Beringia 12,000 years ago could have spread across North America in a wave and wiped out
game animals to feed their burgeoning popula on.

4The
researchers ran the model several ways, always beginning with a popula on of 100
humans in Edmonton, in Alberta, Canada, at 11,500 years ago. Assuming di erent ini al
North American big-game-animal popula ons (75-150 million animals) and di erent
popula on growth rates for the human se lers (0.65%-3.5%), and varying kill rates,
Mosimann and Mar n derived gures of between 279 and 1,157 years from ini al contact to
big-game ex nc on.

5Many
scholars con nue to support this scenario. For example, geologist Larry Agenbroad
has mapped the loca ons of dated Clovis sites alongside the distribu on of dated sites
where the remains of wooly mammoths have been found in both archaeological and purely
paleontological contexts. These distribu ons show remarkable synchronicity (occurrence at
the same me).
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 TPO 54 – Passage 2 overkill of the North American Megafauna

6There
are, however, many problems with this model. Signi cantly, though a few sites are
quite impressive, there really is very li le archaeological evidence to support it. Wri ng in
1982, Mar n himself admi ed the paucity of evidence; for example, at that point, the
remains of only 38 individual mammoths had been found at Clovis sites. In the years since,
few addi onal mammoths have been added to the list; there are s ll fewer than 20 Clovis
sites where the remains of one or more mammoths have been recovered, a minuscule
propor on of the millions that necessarily would have had to have been slaughtered within
the overkill scenario.

7Though Mar n claims the lack of evidence actually supports his model—the evidence is
sparse because the spread of humans and the ex nc on of animals occurred so quickly—
this argument seems weak. And how could we ever disprove it? As archaeologist Donald
Grayson points out, in other cases where ex nc on resulted from the quick spread of
human hunters—for example, the ex nc on of the moa, the large ightless bird of New
Zealand—archaeological evidence in the form of remains is abundant. Grayson has also
shown that the evidence is not so clear that all or even most of the large herbivores in late
Pleistocene America became ex nct a er the appearance of Clovis. Of the 35 ex nct genera,
only 8 can be con dently assigned an ex nc on date of between 12,000 and 10,000 years
ago. Many of the older genera, Grayson argues, may have succumbed before 12,000 B.C., at
least half a century before the Clovis showed up in the American West.

1. The word "proposed" in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. accepted
B. obvious
C. debatable
D. suggested (correct )

2. The word "dis nc ve" in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. hidden
B. characteris c
C. sca ered (correct)
D. rare

3. Why does the author compare "Modern humans" with "ancient people"?

A. To argue that modern people have con nued to have dras c e ects on
animal species (correct)
B. To illustrate how people from di erent historical mes treated animals
di erently
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 TPO 54 – Passage 2 overkill of the North American Megafauna

C. To ques on the idea that ancient people could have hunted the megafauna to
ex nc on
D. To emphasize that modern people are more successful hunters than ancient
people were

4. In using the word "coincidence" in the passage, the author refers to events that
occurred

A. a er a period of many years

B. subsequent to a predic on
C. from me to me
D. at the same me and by chance (correct)

5. According to paragraph 2, what suggests that human ac vity played a role in the
ex nc on of mammals about 11,000 years ago?

2Although the climate changed at the end of the Pleistocene, warming trends
had happened before. A period of massive ex nc on of large mammals like
that seen about 11,000 years ago had not occurred during the previous
400,000 years, despite these changes. The only apparently signi cant
di erence in the Americas 11,000 years ago was the presence of human
hunters of these large mammals. Was this coincidence or cause-and-e ect?

A. Climate changes that would have favored human popula on expansion

occurred at the me of the ex nc ons.
B. The presence of human hunters had caused animal ex nc ons in other me
periods.
C. There was a pa ern of climate change earlier than 11,000 years ago that had
not caused animal ex nc ons.
D. Harmful climate changes 11,000 years ago would have required humans to
hunt larger numbers of animals for food.

6. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essen al informa on in the
highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in
important ways or leave out essen al informa on

We do not know.Ecologist Paul S. Mar n has championed the model that

associates the ex nc on of large mammals at the end of the Pleistocene with
human preda on. With researcher J. E. Mosimann, he has co-authored a work
in which a computer model showed that in around 300 years, given the right
condi ons, a small in ux of hunters into eastern Beringia 12,000 years ago
could have spread across North America in a wave and wiped out game
animals to feed their burgeoning popula on.

A. A computer model was designed to determine how long it would have taken
for a small group of hunters to spread across North America.
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 TPO 54 – Passage 2 overkill of the North American Megafauna

B. A computer model showed that it was possible for a small group of hunters to
spread across North America and kill o game animals in just 300 years.
C. According to a computer model, people coming into North America 12,000
years ago had to kill game animals in order to feed their popula on.(correct)
D. According to a computer model, about 12,000 years ago condi ons enabled a
small group of hunters to enter and cross North America in about 300 years.

7. Which of the following best describes the results of the research discussed in
paragraph 4?

4The researchers ran the model several ways, always beginning with a
popula on of 100 humans in Edmonton, in Alberta, Canada, at 11,500 years
ago. Assuming di erent ini al North American big-game-animal popula ons
(75-150 million animals) and di erent popula on growth rates for the human
se lers (0.65%-3.5%), and varying kill rates, Mosimann and Mar n derived
gures of between 279 and 1,157 years from ini al contact to big-game
ex nc on.

A. Scien sts used mathema cal models to show that most of the ex nc ons
occurred in areas where humans had recently arrived.
B. Scien sts established that the main popula on of North Americans who
hunted lived in Canada during the me of the megafauna ex nc ons.
C. Scien sts used numerical models to con rm that a small popula on of
humans could have caused big-game ex nc ons in a rela vely short period of
me.
D. Scien sts used sta s cs to prove beyond doubt the currently accepted view
that human hunters were the main cause of the megafauna ex nc ons.

8. Which of the following statements about Larry Agenbroad's work is implied in the
discussion in paragraph 5?

5Many
scholars con nue to support this scenario.For example, geologist Larry
Agenbroad has mapped the loca ons of dated Clovis sites alongside the distribu on
of dated sites where the remains of wooly mammoths have been found in both
archaeological and purely paleontological contexts.These distribu ons show
remarkable synchronicity (occurrence at the same me).
A. Agenbroad showed that Mosimann and Mar n's es mates of the amount of
me needed to drive big-game to ex nc on were correct.
B. Agenbroad's maps were the rst to indicate the ages of the Clovis sites.
C. Agenbroad reinforced the idea that humans could have caused the
ex nc ons.
D. Agenbroad's studies of wooly mammoths led to his discovery of Clovis sites.

9. The word "admi ed" in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. accepted the truth of

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 TPO 54 – Passage 2 overkill of the North American Megafauna

B. was unaware of
C. was troubled by
D. called a en on to

10. According to paragraph 6, which of the following statements challenges the view that
hun ng by humans caused the ex nc ons of North American megafauna?

6There are, however, many problems with this model.Signi cantly, though a
few sites are quite impressive, there really is very li le archaeological
evidence to support it.Wri ng in 1982, Mar n himself admi ed the paucity of
evidence;for example, at that point, the remains of only 38 individual
mammoths had been found at Clovis sites. In the years since, few addi onal
mammoths have been added to the list;there are s ll fewer than 20 Clovis
sites where the remains of one or more mammoths have been recovered, a
minuscule propor on of the millions that necessarily would have had to have
been slaughtered within the overkill scenario.

A. The Clovis sites that contain the remains of mammoths were se led by
humans long a er the ex nc ons occurred.
B. Only a few of the Clovis sites are located near known mammoth habitats.
C. No archaeological evidence of ex nc ons has been found at Clovis sites since
1982.
D. The number of mammoth remains found at Clovis sites is smaller than would
be expected if hun ng by humans had caused the ex nc ons.

11. In paragraph7, why does the author men on that there is abundant archaeological
evidence for the ex nc on of the New Zealand moa?

7Though Mar n claims the lack of evidence actually supports his model—the
evidence is sparse because the spread of humans and the ex nc on of
animals occurred so quickly—this argument seems weak. And how could we
ever disprove it?As archaeologist Donald Grayson points out, in other cases
where ex nc on resulted from the quick spread of human hunters—for
example, the ex nc on of the moa, the large ightless bird of New Zealand—
archaeological evidence in the form of remains is abundant. Grayson has also
shown that the evidence is not so clear that all or even most of the large
herbivores in late Pleistocene America became ex nct a er the appearance of
Clovis. Of the 35 ex nct genera, only 8 can be con dently assigned an
ex nc on date of between 12,000 and 10,000 years ago.Many of the older
genera, Grayson argues, may have succumbed before 12,000 B.C., at least
half a century before the Clovis showed up in the American West.

A. To show that ex nc ons occurred in areas other than North America.

B. To challenge Mar n's claim that the lack of megafauna remains supports his
model of the megafauna ex nc ons.
C. To iden fy a country where humans were highly skilled as hunters.
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 TPO 54 – Passage 2 overkill of the North American Megafauna

D. To help explain why it is unclear whether all large herbivores of late

Pleistocene America became ex nct a er the appearance of Clovis.

12. Paragraph 7 suggests that Donald Grayson believes which of the following about the
remains at Clovis sites and megafaunal ex nc ons?

7Though Mar n claims the lack of evidence actually supports his model—the
evidence is sparse because the spread of humans and the ex nc on of
animals occurred so quickly—this argument seems weak. And how could we
ever disprove it?As archaeologist Donald Grayson points out, in other cases
where ex nc on resulted from the quick spread of human hunters—for
example, the ex nc on of the moa, the large ightless bird of New Zealand—
archaeological evidence in the form of remains is abundant. Grayson has also
shown that the evidence is not so clear that all or even most of the large
herbivores in late Pleistocene America became ex nct a er the appearance of
Clovis. Of the 35 ex nct genera, only 8 can be con dently assigned an
ex nc on date of between 12,000 and 10,000 years ago.Many of the older
genera, Grayson argues, may have succumbed before 12,000 B.C., at least
half a century before the Clovis showed up in the American West.

A. The rapid rate of the spread of humans explains why the ex nc ons also
occurred at a rapid rate.
B. The lack of evidence of human-caused ex nc ons is not surprising in view of
the speed with which the ex nc ons occurred.
C. It is likely that more evidence will be found as da ng methods improve.
D. If humans did contribute to the ex nc ons, much more evidence of that
would have been found by now.

13. Look at the four squares [ ] that indicate where the following sentence could be
added to the passage. Where would the sentence best t?

One possible nonhuman cause—weather cycles—is not consistent with what scien sts know
about the ming of the ex nc ons.

[ ] Although the climate changed at the end of the Pleistocene, warming trends had
happened before.[ One possible nonhuman cause—weather cycles—is not
consistent with what scien sts know about the ming of the ex nc ons.
]period of massive ex nc on of large mammals like that seen about 11,000 years ago
had not occurred during the previous 400,000 years, despite these changes. [ ] The
only apparently signi cant di erence in the Americas 11,000 years ago was the
presence of human hunters of these large mammals. [ ] Was this coincidence or
cause-and-e ect?

14. An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below.
Complete the summary by selec ng the THREE answer choices that express the most
important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary
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 TPO 54 – Passage 2 overkill of the North American Megafauna

because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas
in the passage.

About 11,000 years ago, all of North America's megafauna became ex nct.
• A. That the rst humans migrated to North America near the same me as the
ex nc ons of the megafauna has led many to believe that hun ng by humans was a
signi cant cause of those ex nc ons.
• B. Support for the hypothesis that hun ng by humans caused the ex nc ons has
been provided by computer models, as well as by the discovery of some mammoths'
remains near human se lements.
• C. There is more evidence that human se lers hunted large ightless birds like the
moa into ex nc on than there is that hunters caused the ex nc on of large
mammals like the mammoth.
• D. Early North Americans known as the Clovis society developed spears in order to
hunt enough large animals to feed their popula on as it expanded across vast areas
of the con nent.
• E. Scien sts have proven that the human hunters of large animals who migrated
across North America grew in number so quickly that they killed o most of the
megafauna within a few hundred years.
• F. Some scholars argue that the evidence linking mammoth remains to human
se lements is insu cient to establish that hun ng by humans was a signi cant
factor in the megafauna ex nc ons.
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