Thread with excerpts from “Twilight of the Mammoths: Ice Age Extinctions and the Rewilding of America” by Paul Martin
In the last 50k years, half of the 200 genera of mammals over 100 lbs have gone extinct. Amongst them are giant armadillos, dwarf antelopes, giant beavers, American lions, giant ground sloths, dire wolves, sabre-tooth tigers, giant kangaroos & more.
Spread of humanity can be seen in the fossil record. The large mammals go extinct & cease to leave theirs.
Old animal waste used by archaeologists to figure out the shifts in plant life during & after the last Ice Age
Wooly mammoths lived in the entire Colorado River drainage area, from the Sea of Cortez to northern Utah.
Human colonization of the Pacific led to extinction of 8000 bird species. Partly due to hunting, partly due to rats.
Rats were brought to New Zealand by Polynesians over a thousand years prior to permanent Polynesian settlements. Mystery why Polynesians took so long to settle NZ.
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