Collaborative Research: Response of Mammalian Survivors to the Late Pleistocene Extinction Event

Stanford University, Stanford CA

Investigators

Abstract

RESPONSE OF MAMMALIAN SURVIVORS TO THE LATE PLEISTOCENE EXTINCTION EVENT Elizabeth A. Hadly, Stanford University EAR-0545648 Abstract Global warming and human hunting at the end of the Pleistocene led to the extinction of most of the mammalian fauna larger than 44 kg. While the causes of the extinction event are debated and of intense interest, the effect of the ensuing community changes on species that survived the extinction has not been well investigated. However, knowledge about effects on survivors will be immensely valuable to predictions of future biodiversity. Thus, instead of studying the Pleistocene extinction solely from the perspective of why species went extinct, we are keen to investigate how, or in fact, whether, surviving species were affected by the extinction event. We propose to use the rich but untapped Quaternary fossil resources of Shasta County, California, to investigate the response of the mammals that survived the Pleistocene-Holocene transition event. Our primary goal is to determine community, species, and population response of survivors to the extinction event and to sort out whether the response was due to loss of the megafauna, climatic change or both. Our study focuses on northern California, which is a hotspot of biodiversity and endemism. Clearly, current climatic changes and other human impacts may influence biodiversity in ways other than extinction, and a meaningful way to forecast such influences is by calling upon the fossil record to enhance our understanding of such responses. The broad public appeal of fossils allows us to inform the public of the value of understanding the impacts of future environmental change from this unique, but critical, interdisciplinary perspective.