The Pleistocene Megafauna

Jarðsaga 2 Ólafur Ingólfsson Háskóli Íslands Unstable Pleistocene climate controls development of life Life adapts to seasonality and glaciations...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/beasts/changing/pleistocene/currents.shtml Adaptations include:

• Migrations to cope with seasonal temperature and precipitation changes • Physiological changes to cope with harsch climates (body size, growing/sheding a fur) • Generalization with regard to food to cope with seasonal availabilty • Activity levels adopted to seasons (winter sleep) Pleistocene fauna; general characteristics... • The Pleistocene and plants were basi- cally modern species. • There were many giant - the so called megafauna - which evolved and lived on all the worlds continents. In Australia there were giant kangaroos and wombats; in Europe the mammoth and woolly rhinos, in America the mastodon, camels, and dire wolves, in South America elephant-sized ground sloths and giant glyptodonts. La Brea tarpits of LA

The La Brea tar pits contain one of the richest, best preserved, and best studied assemblages of Pleistocene vertebrates, including at least 59 species of and over 135 species of bird. The tar pit fossils bear eloquent witness to life in southern California from 40-8 ka BP; aside from vertebrates, they include plants, mollusks, and insects -- over 660 species of organisms in all. Natural sepage of tar...

...Animals get stuck in the sticky tar Animals get stuck in the tar Microfossils tell us a lot about the environments

The asphalt has preserved plants, insects, freshwater shells and small rodent bones. The microfossils give a complete look at the Ice Age environment of the Los Angeles area. Although > million invertebrates have been recovered from the asphalt deposits, only two species are extinct. Invertebrates that have been identified include grasshoppers, termites, flies, and scorpions. Birds of Rancho La Brea

Bird fossils are very rare because their bones are hollow and quite fragile. At Rancho La Brea the preservative effect of the asphalt has resulted in one of the largest collection of fossil birds in the world. The >100,000 bird fossils found at Rancho La Brea include different kinds of birds of prey, waterfowl and songbirds. The Columbian Mammoth

Huge, about 4 m and weighing 8-10 tons, the Columbian mammoth could consume about 250 kg of vegetation a day. The life span for a Columbian mammoth was 60 to 80 years The Columbian Mammoth

The Columbian Mamm- oth was a descendent of Mammuthus meri- dionalis, an ancestral mammoth that entered North America via the Bering Land Bridge 1- 1.5 MYago. In Eurasia, this same ancestor evolved separately into the woolly mammoth A gigant elephant

The Columbian mam- moth was one of the largest elephants to have walked the Earth. It had spiral- led tusks which measured up to 4.9 m long, longest tusks ever amongst the elephant family. Mammuts and Mastodonts

American Mastodon Mammut americanum

The mastodons at Rancho La Brea were roughly half the size of the mammoths. The Mastodont even went South... Ground sloths from S America

Ground sloths, originally from S America, made their way into N America after the closing of the Panama seaway. Harlan's ground sloth was the largest and most common of the ground sloths found at Rancho La Brea. It stood over 2 m tall and weighed almost 1100 kg. This had flat grinding teeth that suggest a diet of grasses, but may have also fed on leaves, tree roots, and twigs. Western (Equus occidentalis)

With over 200 individuals of western horse recovered from Rancho La Brea, paleontologists have determined that this species had a strong resemblance to the modern East African . It went extinct by the end of the Pleistocene. were later introduced to the Americas by the Spanish conquistadores... Yukon Wild Ass

Equus lambei - These small horses were one of the most common herbivores in N America during the Ice Age. They were very similar to the living wild asses of Asia and stood about 1.3 m high. The species occupied dry, shrub-covered grasslands. Only the fastest predators, such as the American lion and , were able to kill them. Wild asses survived in the Yukon until about 13,000 years ago. Decline of horses in North America Western Camel

The western camel was similar to the living two-humped camel, but slightly taller (>2.5 m at the shoulder). It was an opportunistic herbivore, like its modern day relatives. The western camel was more closely related to the llama than to living camels. Other herbivores

Animals like the tapir and the llama are some of the more notable rare large mammal herbivores at Rancho La Brea and are mainly represented by just a few bones. The three-toed tapir is a distant relative of modern horses. Living tapirs are found in South Asia and South America. Dire Wolve

Dire (“skelfilegur”) wolves were quite common in the Rancho La Brea area. More dire wolf fossils have been found during excavations than those of any other mammal species. The large number suggests that these fierce animals hunted in packs and may have been caught in the asphalt together while trying to feed upon other animals. Short faced bear

The short-faced bear's size in comparison to the modern day grizzly (front) and polar bear (middle).

The short-faced bear was the largest and most powerful carnivore found at Rancho La Brea. It stood over 1.6 m tall at the shoulder, making it larger than the modern grizzly, brown, and polar bears. When standing upright, the short- faced bear was over 3.5 m tall. Its teeth suggest that this bear, like the modern grizzly or brown bears, was an omni- vore with a diet dependent on food that was available. American Lion

Closely related to the modern African lion, the American lion was the largest member of the cat family found in the asphalt deposits. Roamed the Americas between 70-20 ka BP The Sabretoothed Cat

The sabertoothed cat had strong limbs and a heavy muscular build, making it much more bulky than other cats, whichtendtobeagileandnimble. Thesabertoothedcat had a short tail and research suggests that it relied on its powerful muscles to ambush and pounce upon prey, instead of chasing it in a manner similar to lions and other cats. Saabretoothedcatswereaboutthesizeof a lion. They specialized in killing young mammoths and probably other slow, thick-skinned prey such as mastodons and ground sloths. Sabretoothed cats survived in North America until the close of the last glaciation, about 10 ka BP. La Brea: Fossil ecosystem

The fossil deposits at Rancho La Brea are an entire pre- historic ecosystem that existed in Los Angeles 40-12 ka BP preserved, from the smallest plant fragments to the largest mammals.

Museum of LA County: http://www.tarpits.org/education/guide/index.html Giant Beaver

The giant beaver (Castoroides ohioensis) was one of the largest rodents ever known. It reached a length of ca. 2.5 m and weighed up to an estimated 218 kg. Unlike modern beavers (Castor canadensis), giant beavers had ridged cutting teeth, deep skulls, and probably roundish, muskrat-like tails. Eurasian Pleistocene Megafauna The very dry tundra plains of northern Eurasia meant animals had to adapt to survive. Others migrated south to milder valleys in the winter.

Woolly Rhino: Weight: 2 to 3 tons; height: 2 m tall at shoulder; length: 3-4 m Woolly Rhino, 500-10 ka ago Woolly Rhino remains have been found all across Europe and Asia, although they apparently did not make it across to N America.

The horns of the woolly rhino have been found as fossils, and frozen carcasses have occasionally been found in Siberia. They also occur in cave paintings. Copy of a rhinoceros cave painting from cave of Font-de-Gaume, Dordogne, France. Elephant Family Tree The Woolly Mammoth 135-11 ka BP

Males: 3 m tall, Females: 2.75 m tall

Mammuthus primigenius, from the old Russian word mammut - meaning "earth mole" - as the animals were believed to live underground and die on contact with the light (explain- ing why they were always found dead and half-buried). - the Euro- of the re in Siberia, arcasses a reserved c in tone-age p s seen rimigenius y ammals

p b m be found ground an c mammoths ge, because ictures been p A frozen

Mammuthus Woolly best known Ice have in and artists pean caves. Woolly mam- moths grew to about the size of present-day Asiatic elephants, had warm coats consisting of long, brown guard hairs and soft under- wool, large curved ivory tusks, and knob-like heads.

Mammuthus primigenius Pleistocene Mammals in the Russian Paleontological Institute

Many of the most famous Pleistocene mammals remains are from Russia, including frozen mammoths that still contain stomach contents, hair, DNA, and muscle. European Lion - 900-10 ka ago

Lions have been around in Africa for at least 3.5 MY, but 900 ka ago they first appeared in Europe, and from then on became reasonably common. The European lions were larger than their cousins in Africa, which probably helped them hunt some of the larger herbivores on the great European plains, such as bison. Cave paintings of European lions show no mane or tuft at the end of the tail, although it could be that the paintings are of females. European Cave Lion Lions were very wide-spread in Europe and Asia untill late Pleistocene The Pleistocene Cave Bear Ursus spelaeus (late Pleistocene, ca. 300 ka BP-10 ka BP).

This bear is notable for its habit of inhabiting caves, where its remains are frequently preserved; in European cave deposits, the remains of more than 100,000 cave bears have been found. Cave bear facts

Body weight: estimated at up to 700kg.

Physical Description Ithada largeheadwithmassivecanineteeth. Cave paintings show it as having short ears and a pig-like face

Habitat The cave bear inhabited alpine regions and the tundra and tundra- steppe of Ice Age Europe.

Diet Its teeth indicate that it was largely vegetarian.

Notes The Neanderthals had a “cave bear cult”, collecting skulls and building them into little cairns or monuments in caves. They might have killed the bears or just found their bones in the caves. Short-faced Hyena During the Pleistocene there lived in Africa and Europe a hyena that was roughly the size of a modern lion. It is called the Short-faced Hyena.

The short-faced hyena was a common form of hunting hyenafoundinEurasiaduring the Early-Middle Pleistocene. Became extinct slightly before the Late Pleistocene. Megaloceros (“Giant antler”) 400-9,5 ka BP

Megaloceros fossils are found in large numbers in the peat Details: Megaloceros is bogs of Ireland (hence their often confusingly called common name ‘Irish Elk’). the ‘Irish Elk’, although it They are also seen in cave was found all across paintings, which show the Europe, not just Ireland, colour patterns of the and was technically a animals. deer rather than an elk. Eurasian and African Sabretoothed cats

Eurasia and Africa also had their sabretoothed cats, as well as N America. Human ancestors among their prey! The Auroch

The aurochs is the ancestor of domestic cattle. It became extinct at the beginning of the 17th century (1627). The aurochs probably evolved from an ancestor that also lived in Asia Minor and North Africa. Evidence for this comes from cave drawings and paintings of an animal similar to the aurochs from ancient Egyptian and Assyrian sculptures. Caribou and Muskox – Pleistocene animals...

Arctic animals like the Caribou and the Muskox are products of the Pleistocene ice ages. Their natural history goes back to middle Pleistocene, ~ 500 ka ...so is the Polar Bear

The circum-arctic Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) is from an evolutionary point of view a very young species – it first appeared about 100 ka BP. During the Last Glacial Maximum and the following deglaciation it briefly occupied coastal NW Europe. Oldest fossil remains, about 70 ka old, from Kiew Gardens in London... The Great Auk (Geirfugl - Pinguinus impennis), a Pleistocene bird!)

Numerous bird species are adapted to Pleistocene cold climate, including gulls, terns, owls, seabirds, ducks. They are presently found at high latitudes... Pleistocene animals in your backyard... Arctic Fox (Alopex lagopus) and Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus) are both examples of Pleisto- cene animals still around Pleistocene fauna and flora • The plants and animals of the Pleistocene are, in many respects, similar to those living today. • The spatial distribution of various Pleistocene fauna and flora types differed markedly from what it is at present. Changes in climate and environment caused large-scale migrations of both plants and animals, evolutionary adaptations, and in some cases extinction. • Evolutionary changes during the Pleistocene generally were minor because of the short interval of time involved. They were greatest among the mammals. • Mammalian evolution included the development of large forms, many of which became adapted to Arctic conditions (the woolly mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, musk ox, moose, reindeer etc). Pleistocene fauna and flora

• Large mammals that inhabited the more temperate zones included the elephant, mastodon, bison, hippo- potamus, deer, giant beaver, horse, and ground sloth. • The evolution of these as well as of much smaller forms was affected in part by three factors: (1) a generally cooler, more arid climate subject to periodic fluctuations, (2) new migration routes resulting largely from the emergence of intercontinental connections during times of lower sea level, and (3) a changing geography due to the uplift of plateaus and mountain building. • The most significant biological development was the appearance and evolution of the genus Homo. References and links

Stanley: Earth System History. Arnold, London Fortey: Life. A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years on Earth. Vintage, New York. Kurtén, B. 1969. Istiden.Stockholm, Forum, 179 p. Encyclopaedia Brittanica: The Pleistocene Epoch. Museum of LA County: http://www.tarpits.org/education/guide/index.html http://www.geol.umd.edu/~candela/pbevol.html http://www.fossilnews.com/1999/mammals.html http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/larson/ice_age_animals.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/beasts/factfiles/index_all.shtml http://donsmaps.com/animals3.html http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/beasts/changing/pleistocene/currents.shtml