Transcript Pleistocene Vertebrates

Pleistocene Mammals of North
America
Mike Hils
Palaeontology
The Pleistocene
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Lasted from 1.8 Ma to
10 ka
Name comes from Greek
meaning “most” and
“new”
4 major glaciation
events
End of the Pleistocene
corresponds to the end
of the Paleolithic period
in Archaeology
The Mammals
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Mammals had been diversifying since the
K/T extinction 65 Ma before
The Cenozoic is the “Age of Mammals”
Diversity was much higher than it is now
Land bridges formed by volcanism and
lowering of sea level allowed for faunal
exchanges to occur
The Mammals
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Orders and Families were much more
widely spread than today
Although Ohio was mostly covered by ice
during the last glaciation, many
Pleistocene fossils have been found
Many Pleistocene animals are still around
today
NA Beaver
White-tailed Deer
Castor canadensis
Odocoileus virginianus
Red Fox
Black Bear
Ursus americanus
Vulpes vulpes
Musk Ox
Bison
Ovibos moschatus
Bison bison
Were all
found in
Ohio!!!
Reindeer
Rangifer tarandus
Elk
Cervus canadensis
Endemic Groups
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Perissodactyls (horses, rhinos, tapirs)
Artiodactyls
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Antilocapridae (Pronghorns)
Camelidae (Camels)
Tayassuidae (Peccaries)
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Horses
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Perissodactyla
Used to be several species alive
About 40 species named
 May be fewer
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Today there are only two true horses and 8
other spp in Equus
Massive extinction in North America
Europeans brought horses back
Tapirs
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4 spps living in S. American and Asia
Horses
Tooth
Equus scotti
Stripes!
Equus ferus przewalskii
Carnivora
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Giant Short-faced Bear (Arctodus simus)
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North American Lion (Panthera leo atrox)
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Larger than African & Asian lions
Smilodon (Smilodon fatalis)
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Genus is ancestral to Spectacled Bear
Competition with Ursine bears?
Subfamily Machairodontinae
Dire Wolf (Canis dirus)
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More robust than Gray Wolf
Hyaena-like in lifestyle
Canis dirus
Arcotodus simus
Panthera leo atrox
Smilodon fatalis
Proboscidea
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Three families in North America:
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Gomphotheriidae – Gomphotheres, 3 spp
Mammutidae – Mastodons, 1 sp
Elephantidae – Mammoths, 4 spp
All originated in Africa
Represented by 3 species today
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Asian Elephants most closely related to
mammoths
Gomphotheres
Mastodons
M. dinozordus
Mammut americanum
Burning Tree
Mastodon,
Newark, OH
Mammoths
M. primigenius
M. imperator
Mammuthus columbi
Xenartha
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Endemic to South America
Cingulata
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Glyptodon - armadillo-like
Pilosa
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Giant Ground Sloths
4 spp in United States
 Last ones went extinct in 1550 on Hispaniola and
Cuba
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Rodentia
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Giant Beaver - Castoroides ohioensis
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Weighed 130-220 lbs
Glyptodon
Giant Ground Sloth
Giant Beaver
The Extinction
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The Pleistocene megafauna died out
shortly after the Ice Age ended
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Overkill
Climate Change
Hyperdisease
A combination
Megafauna also died out in all of the other
continents
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Some obviously continue in special
environments
Things to Consider
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Many animals alive today lived back then
Elephants still live in Africa and Asia
Horses survived in Asia, Africa and Europe
Pleistocene Parks
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Russia is setting up a preserve to recreate
Pleistocene ecosystem
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Will stock it with modern equivalents
Hope to clone mammoths
It’s been suggested that the US create
one, too
Kind of been done with feral horses out
west
Questions?