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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2006; 103(19); 7351-7353; doi: 10.1073/pnas.0509480103

On the Pleistocene extinctions of Alaskan mammoths and horses.

Abstract: The fossil record has been used to shed light on the late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions in North America and elsewhere. It is therefore important to account for variability due to the incompleteness of the fossil record and error in dating fossil remains. Here, a joint confidence region for the extinction times of horses and mammoths in Alaska is constructed. The results suggest that a prior claim that the extinction of horses preceded the arrival of humans cannot be made with confidence.
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Publication Date: 2006-05-01 PubMed ID: 16651534PubMed Central: PMC1464344DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0509480103Google Scholar: Lookup
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  • Journal Article

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

This research analyzes the fossil record to construct a timeline for the extinction of horses and mammoths in Alaska during the late Pleistocene era, and challenges the claim that horse extinction occurred prior to human arrival in the region.

Overview of Research

In this study, the authors focused on deciphering the timing of the extinction of two species – mammoths and horses – during the late Pleistocene era in Alaska. They assembled fossil data and made a rigorous effort to account for uncertainties due to incomplete fossil records and potential errors in dating the fossil remains.

Analysis of Fossil Records

  • The researchers meticulously gathered fossil records of these two species from various sources, including archaeological sites, museum collections, academic literature, and other related databases.
  • They acknowledged the challenge of the incompleteness of the fossil record. Due to various factors, like weathering, erosion, and other environmental and human-related activities, not all remains of extinct animals get preserved as fossils. This can potentially distort the real picture of the past biodiversity and timing of extinction events.
  • Another challenge they addressed was the potential error in dating fossil remains. Techniques like radiocarbon dating are frequently used to estimate the age of fossil samples. However, these methods are not always 100% accurate and have a certain margin of error.

Extinction Times of Horses and Mammoths

  • With collected data and taking into account for the mentioned uncertainties, the researchers constructed a joint confidence region for the extinction times of horses and mammoths.
  • This statistical measure gives a range of probable times for the extinction of these species. It helps to narrow down when these extinction events could have happened, albeit with a certain level of uncertainty due to the inherent difficulties in studying fossil records.

Questioning Prior Claims

  • The results of this study challenge a previous assertion that the extinction of horses in Alaska happened before the arrival of humans in the area. According to the confidence region constructed in this study, it’s not certain whether such a claim can be accurately made.
  • This finding is significant as it could potentially alter our understanding of the late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions and the role of humans in those extinctions.

Cite This Article

APA
Solow AR, Roberts DL, Robbirt KM. (2006). On the Pleistocene extinctions of Alaskan mammoths and horses. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 103(19), 7351-7353. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0509480103

Publication

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
ISSN: 0027-8424
NlmUniqueID: 7505876
Country: United States
Language: English
Volume: 103
Issue: 19
Pages: 7351-7353

Researcher Affiliations

Solow, Andrew R
  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA. asolow@shoi.edu
Roberts, David L
    Robbirt, Karen M

      MeSH Terms

      • Alaska
      • Animals
      • Carbon Radioisotopes
      • Fossils
      • Horses
      • Time Factors

      Conflict of Interest Statement

      Conflict of interest statement: No conflicts declared.

      References

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      This article has been cited 14 times.
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