Evolutionary Synthesis Biology Late Pleistocene Extinctions: Overkill or Climate Change? Abstract During the late Pleistocene era, which lasted from about 18,000 to 10,000 years ago, North America was filled with giant mammals. These mammals were known as the Pleistocene mega-fauna. At about 10,000 years ago, almost all of these huge animals disappear. Why? There are two main hypotheses on this phenomenon. The first one is the Pleistocene Overkill hypothesis. This states that the human beings that inhabited North …
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showed last 75 words of 2488 total
…what is shown from the fossil record and other various studies, it is hard for me to believe that the humans of the time did not play a huge role in the extinction of the Pleistocene mega-fauna. If human beings are so destructive today, then what reason is there to believe that we were any different 10,000 years ago? It is my conclusion that the late Pleistocene mega-faunal extinction was caused by overkill from the Paleo-Indians.