1. Pleistocene Mammals of North America
Mike Hils
Palaeontology

2. The Pleistocene 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

5. The Mammals
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

6. The Mammals
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

7. NA Beaver
Castor canadensis
White-tailed Deer
Odocoileus virginianus
Red Fox
Vulpes vulpes
Black Bear
Ursus americanus

8. Were all found in Ohio!!! Musk Ox Ovibos moschatus Bison Bison bison
Elk
Cervus canadensis
Reindeer
Rangifer tarandus

9. Endemic Groups Perissodactyls (horses, rhinos, tapirs) Artiodactyls
Antilocapridae (Pronghorns)
Camelidae (Camels)
Tayassuidae (Peccaries)

10. Perissodactyla Horses Tapirs Used to be several species alive
About 40 species named
May be fewer
Today there are only two true horses and 8 other spp in Equus
Massive extinction in North America
Europeans brought horses back
Tapirs
4 spps living in S. American and Asia

11. Horses
Tooth
Equus scotti
Stripes!
Equus ferus przewalskii

12. Carnivora Giant Short-faced Bear (Arctodus simus)
Genus is ancestral to Spectacled Bear
Competition with Ursine bears?
North American Lion (Panthera leo atrox)
Larger than African & Asian lions
Smilodon (Smilodon fatalis)
Subfamily Machairodontinae
Dire Wolf (Canis dirus)
More robust than Gray Wolf
Hyaena-like in lifestyle

13. Canis dirus
Panthera leo atrox
Arcotodus simus
Smilodon fatalis

14. Proboscidea Three families in North America: All originated in Africa
Gomphotheriidae – Gomphotheres, 3 spp
Mammutidae – Mastodons, 1 sp
Elephantidae – Mammoths, 4 spp
All originated in Africa
Represented by 3 species today
Asian Elephants most closely related to mammoths

16. Gomphotheres

17. Mastodons M. dinozordus Mammut americanum Burning Tree Mastodon,
Newark, OH

18. Mammoths
M. primigenius
M. imperator
Mammuthus columbi

19. Xenartha Rodentia Endemic to South America Cingulata Pilosa
Glyptodon - armadillo-like
Pilosa
Giant Ground Sloths
4 spp in United States
Last ones went extinct in 1550 on Hispaniola and Cuba
Rodentia
Giant Beaver - Castoroides ohioensis
Weighed lbs

20. Glyptodon
Giant Ground Sloth
Giant Beaver

22. The Extinction
The Pleistocene megafauna died out shortly after the Ice Age ended
Overkill
Climate Change
Hyperdisease
A combination
Megafauna also died out in all of the other continents
Some obviously continue in special environments

23. Things to Consider Many animals alive today lived back then
Elephants still live in Africa and Asia
Horses survived in Asia, Africa and Europe

24. Pleistocene Parks
Russia is setting up a preserve to recreate Pleistocene ecosystem
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

26. Questions?