humans/megafauna

  1. Quaternary Period
    • 2 mya
    • modern humans evolve
    • "the 6th wave"
  2. Missing Link
    term used for transitional forms

    "Lucy" who came out of Africa
  3. 1st domesicated animal
    wolf->dog
  4. 5 major extinctions
    • 65 million years ago (Cretaceous period)
    • 213 million years ago (Triassic)
    • 248 million years ago (Permian)
    • 380 million years ago (Devonian)
    • 440-450 million years ago (Ordovician)
  5. What happened to the Pleistocene megafauna?
    • comet impact
    • “Overkill Hypothesis”
    • climate change
    • other anthropogenic actions
  6. Comet Impact leading to extinction
    an event similar to that which led to the extinction of dinosaurs

    • black mat containing iridium
    • nanodiamonds in Greenland ice sheet
  7. Overkill Hypothesis
    • humans were responsible for the mass killings of large herbivorous mammals
    • beginning about 11,000 ya in NA
    • eventually led to extinction of predators & scavengers
  8. Pleistocene
    • Who survived?
    • arboreal, nocturnal,
    • deep forest, high elevation
    • species with high reproductive rate

    • Who didn’t?
    • open habitats at low elevation
    • species with low reproductive rates
    • (<1 young/year)
  9. Climate change as a reason for extinction
    • extinctions probably already underway in response to climate change
    • timing of extinction should correlate with some significant climatic event (or events)
Author
kamrunsreno
ID
17288
Card Set
humans/megafauna
Description
NRES Final
Updated