leading to an onslaught of theories regarding its potential effect on our future. But what impact did humans have thousands of years ago when they were first colonizing North America? The question of what caused the extinction of megafauna during the Late Pleistocene period is one that archaeologists have struggled to answer for decades, but why should it matter? Discovering with certainty the cause of megafaunal extinction would simultaneously prove or disprove any of the proposed implications
Ever since the Pleistocene era, human societies have expanded rapidly, developing innovative ways to defend their territories and migrate across the land. Consisting of an aggregate of humans living together, these societies became more powerful as time progressed by consuming more meat (megafauna). Supporting this development, the more mammals that humans would eat, the more protein their bodies would absorb. When humans consume high amounts of protein, they develop stronger muscles, which leads
The Pleistocene epoch was a time period of almost 2 million years of repeating glaciation around the globe. This epoch was known for its megafauna that roamed the Earth during the last great ice age. Although this was a time of mass extinction for species that could not adapt to the climate changes, many mammals and vertebrates that can be identified today were found during this time (Zimmermann, 2013). The Pleistocene epoch is an important foundation for understanding life that exists today, including
The re-wilding of North America is basically a conservation strategy (Donlan 2005), aimed at restoring the Pleistocene era (Donlan 2005, Rubenstein et al. 2006). This could be achieved by reintroducing African and Asian megafauna, these species are phylogenetically known to be direct descendents of the extinct Pleistocene species or animals of similar taxa (Donlan 2005, Rubenstein et al. 2006). Re-populating North America is essential for both ecological and evolutionary potential (Donlan 2005)
material could be introduced into an elephant genome in order to create a mammoth-elephant hybrid or chimera. The possibility of bringing extinct animals back to life has fascinated people for years. While something like Jurassic Park is unlikely, Pleistocene Park just got one step closer to becoming a reality. One day, mammoths may walk the Earth again. The first step is to begin to understand the creature humanity wants to return to the world. A woolly mammoth, also known as Mammuthus primigenius,
heat, cold, wind and rain. When did it roam the earth Saber Tooth Cats lived during the Ice Age, around 10,000 years ago, existing for about 42 million years, from the Eocene Epoch to the end of the Pleistocene Epoch. They roamed the earth during the early to late Pleistocene era (1.6 to 10,000 years ago) along with other animals such as mammoths and mastodons, however fossils of other
The land of snickers is an extravagant place. Sloths run wild, ravaging through land masses, trying to find all of the remaining potatoes in the land. There were very few colonies of potatoes left, but sloths loved potatoes. Yet one night every week they sit down and read a boring story called the boring story. A boring story is about a boy who is reading his sister a very boring story and because the boring story is boring she sleeps and dreams and the story is even more boring in her head. The
The documentary, “Raising the Mammoth”, discusses the journey that a group of scientists take in order to find and raise an extinct woolly mammoth from the tundra. This video relates to what we learned in class about fossils and discovery for many reasons. One way that this video relates to our studies in class is because the scientists discussed all of the different ways that the fossil of the mammoth can aid in discovering new information about it’s life. In the video they discussed how they knew
While Marlow is in Africa, he travels to the Inner station to meet the Great Kurtz, the man Marlow has been hearing about since he first arrived at the coast. After going through all the dangers with his steamboat, he survives the journey and meets Kurtz in person. However, Marlow finds out that Kurtz was not the great person he had heard from others, but a mad man. Kurtz was an ill man, who was near his death. After Kurtz dies, Marlow leaves Africa and returns to Belgium to meet one of Kurtz's close
The sloths of today are different from their ancient ancestors. They have shrunk in size and speed in comparison to the sloths the past. The ancient Megatherium americanum measured roughly 4 meters long from tail to head and had a shoulder height of 2.25 meters (Argot, 2008). A modern-day descendant of M. americanum is the Southern two-toed sloth, also known as Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus) and it pales in comparison to its ancestor in size. Of course, the M. americanum isn’t the
The hippopotamus is a very unique and interesting species. I don't believe that pollution is a major factor when it comes to the affect on Hippopotamuses in east Africa. Pollution is a major factor when it comes to life on many places in the world. However, I don't believe that pollution necessarily affects Africa as much as it does other parts of the world such as, for an example, California. Many people believe that pollution is killing animals world wide. To some extent this is actually
On a day to day basis, most people take for granted the lives we get to live, and put too much value on the extra things such as materialistic items. Also, the majority of humans are too invested in their personal lives or with themselves that they do not look at the big picture of how what we are doing now will effect us later. As humans, the routines in our lives can bring us harm, and within time a we may become the sixth extinction. In “The Sixth Extinction” by Elizabeth Kolbert, she gives many
Cockroaches Cockroaches are an ancient group of animals, dating back about 320 million years (290 million years before man evolved). They have disobeyed evaluation and remained largely unchanged for more than 300 million years. The name "cockroach" comes from the Spanish word for cockroach, cucaracha, transformed by English etymology into "cock" and "roach". The world's heaviest cockroach is the Australian giant burrowing cockroach which can reach 3.5 inches in length and weigh more than 1.1 oz.
The Eocene Epoch lasted from 55.8 to 33.9 million years ago. It was the second Epoch of five, in the Tertiary Period. It was known for it’s tropical climate and first appearance of mammals, both on land and sea. Typically, The Eocene is split into three parts: Early, Middle, and Late epochs. In the earliest trimester, 55.8 million to 47.8 million years ago, rainforests and swamps dominated the land; the average temperature year round was near ninety degrees fahrenheit- with little fluctuation from
Imagine the world where modern humans and Neanderthals coexisted. The two groups lived among each other for some 2,600 to 5,400 years (Wong 2015, 43). For a long time, it was said that Neanderthals are our closest relatives. There is DNA evidence that shows Neanderthals and modern humans are closely linked. Around 39,000 years ago, Neanderthals suddenly disappeared from the face of the Earth, shortly after the first modern humans appeared (Wong 2009, 33). With the help of researchers, there have
The Neanderthals lived in areas ranging from Western Europe through central Asia from about 200,000 to between 36,000 and 24,000 years ago. The Neanderthals lived in groups of 30 to 50 individuals, they invented many of the tool types that were to be perfected by fully sapient peoples, they had weapons adequate to deal with both the cave lion and cave bear, they used body paint, buried their dead. Neanderthal Man survived through the Ice Age. They are thought to have had fire. Neanderthals lived
Paleo Indian archeology in north America 1. Buchanan, B., Collard, M., & Edinborough, K. (2008). Paleoindian demography and the extraterrestrial impact hypothesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(33), 11651-11654. In the article (Paleoindian demography and the extraterrestrial impact hypothesis) it was claimed that one or more large extraterrestrial objects and young dryas impact that are struck in the northern America. Due to which there is a decline in the population of the
There is some debate as to whether they were a distinct species of the Homo genus (Homo Neanderthalensis) or a subspecies of Homo sapiens. Our well-known, but often misunderstood, fossil kin lived in Eurasia 200,000 to 30,000 years ago, in the Pleistocene Epoch.” (Live Science) The Neanderthals had a very similar appearance to human, although they were “shorter and stockier with angled cheekbones, prominent brow ridges, and wide noses.” (Live
Cindy Marroquin 000423371 The documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams by Werner Herzog starts with one of the biggest discoveries in history. Starting with, three explorers who traveled to Southern France in 1994. They were looking out for drafts of air around rocks, hoping that the air would lead them to caves. As they explored and searched they discovered rocks in their narrow journey that led them to make one of the biggest discoveries in human history, a cave. First, not knowing what the cave
The Oligocene epoch, which means epoch of few recent forms in Greek, lasted about 11 million years which was considered a short time span compared to the other epochs. This epoch was present from 33.9 million years ago to 23 million years ago and was part of the Tertiary period. During this epoch, the climate began to cool down allowing for glaciers and ice ages to be present on Earth. Changes in vegetation arose as a result of climate change where most forests became cooler. Furthermore, the change