Discuss:
Martin’s hypothesis of the Pleistocene Overkill states that humans were directly responsible for the extinction of the large mammals in north Eurasia and the Americas during the Late Pleistocene era. Martin observed that there is a connection between the time humans began inhabiting north Eurasia and the Americas, and the extinction of the majority of enormous mammals. The overkill hypothesis states that the predecessors of the Native Americans arrived in North America (approximately fourteen thousand years ago), there were a myriad of large mammal species which had never seen humans before. As a result, the mammals did not sense that they should be worried about these small two legged beings. The humans were able to benefit from this …show more content…
Marin, there is a very compelling argument for stating that humans were the cause of the Pleistocene Overkill. Firstly, extinction did not happen slowly, overtime, which is typical of natural extinction. The extinctions occurred rapidly within a period of only thousands of years. Secondly, the extinctions of the large mammals directly correlate with the appearance of humans in those regions. Humans would have also targeted the large mammals as a primary desired food source. Additionally, the large megafauna in Africa had evolved together with the humans in the area, and thus the large mammals understood that humans were dangerous and adapted to living among humans. On the contrary, the large mammals in northern Eurasia and the Americas had never witnessed the likes of a human before, and so had not evolved to defend themselves against humans. The extinction also could not be due to invasive species coming in and competing with the large mammals because there is no evidence of new species immigrating in from somewhere …show more content…
Scientists recognized during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s that there was some glacial and interglacial periods which may have correlated with the extinction of specific species. These scientists claimed that the extinction during the Pleistocene ice age may have been the ultimate reason why the large mammals went extinct. However, others disagree with this hypothesis due to the fact that there had been many glacial advances and retreats which had not resulted in the extinction of the megafauna; therefore, there is no reason that the last glacial event would have caused the extinction. The rebuttal to that disagreement, however, is that the mammals alive during the time of the earlier glacial events were different than the mammals alive during the later glacial
Martin’s hypothesis of the Pleistocene Overkill states that humans were directly responsible for the extinction of the large mammals in north Eurasia and the Americas during the Late Pleistocene era. Martin observed that there is a connection between the time humans began inhabiting north Eurasia and the Americas, and the extinction of the majority of enormous mammals. The overkill hypothesis states that the predecessors of the Native Americans arrived in North America (approximately fourteen thousand years ago), there were a myriad of large mammal species which had never seen humans before. As a result, the mammals did not sense that they should be worried about these small two legged beings. The humans were able to benefit from this …show more content…
Marin, there is a very compelling argument for stating that humans were the cause of the Pleistocene Overkill. Firstly, extinction did not happen slowly, overtime, which is typical of natural extinction. The extinctions occurred rapidly within a period of only thousands of years. Secondly, the extinctions of the large mammals directly correlate with the appearance of humans in those regions. Humans would have also targeted the large mammals as a primary desired food source. Additionally, the large megafauna in Africa had evolved together with the humans in the area, and thus the large mammals understood that humans were dangerous and adapted to living among humans. On the contrary, the large mammals in northern Eurasia and the Americas had never witnessed the likes of a human before, and so had not evolved to defend themselves against humans. The extinction also could not be due to invasive species coming in and competing with the large mammals because there is no evidence of new species immigrating in from somewhere …show more content…
Scientists recognized during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s that there was some glacial and interglacial periods which may have correlated with the extinction of specific species. These scientists claimed that the extinction during the Pleistocene ice age may have been the ultimate reason why the large mammals went extinct. However, others disagree with this hypothesis due to the fact that there had been many glacial advances and retreats which had not resulted in the extinction of the megafauna; therefore, there is no reason that the last glacial event would have caused the extinction. The rebuttal to that disagreement, however, is that the mammals alive during the time of the earlier glacial events were different than the mammals alive during the later glacial