Numerous anthropological and ecological hypotheses have been proposed to explain the
extinction of many large-bodied mammals at the terminal Pleistocene. We find that body size …

THE END OF THE PLEISTOCENE WAS MARKED by global climatic changes and by a
major faunal extinction that was most severe for terrestrial mammals. The demise of many …

Humans have reshaped the distribution of biodiversity across the globe, extirpating species
from regions otherwise suitable and restricting populations to a subset of their original …

To make sense of our present biodiversity crises, the modern rate of species extinctions is
commonly compared to a benchmark, or 'background,'rate derived from the fossil record …

South America lost around 52 genera of mammals during a worldwide event known as the
Late Quaternary Extinction episode. More than 80% of South American mammals weighing> …

Environmental histories that span the last full glacial cycle and are representative of regional
change in Australia are scarce, hampering assessment of environmental change preceding …

Large-scale changes in global climate at the end of the Pleistocene significantly impacted
ecosystems across North America. However, the pace and scale of biotic turnover in …

Extinction events typically represent extended processes of decline that cannot be
reconstructed using short-term studies. Long-term archives are necessary to determine past …

This contribution provides an analytical accounting of mammal species that have
disappeared during the past 500 years—the “modern era” of this chapter. Our choice of date …

To understand the current biodiversity crisis, it is crucial to determine how humans have
affected biodiversity in the past. However, the extent of human involvement in species …