Pleistocene Fauna

Presented by:

AMAAN ALI

PLEISTOCENE• Greek (pleistos "most") and (kainos

"new").

• The Pleistocene Epoch lasted from about 1.65 million until 10,000 years ago.

• During that time numerous types of animals inhabited the area that is now the midwestern United States. Most of these types of animals are no longer found in the area.

• Some of these animals are extinct. Others are still around but no longer occur in the area.

• The Pleistocene was known for its ice ages.

• An ice age is a time when many glaciers cover many parts of the earth

Subdivisions of the Quaternary Period

System Series Stage Age (Ma)

Quaternary

Holocene 0–0.0117

Pleistocene

Tarantian (Upper)

0.0117–0.126

Ionian (Middle) 0.126–0.781

Calabrian (Lower) 0.781–1.806

Gelasian (Lower) 1.806–2.588

Neogene Pliocene Piacenzian older

Characteristics Of The Pleistocene Fauna

• The Rancholabrean Fauna (also known as the

Pleistocene or Mammoth Fauna) were unusually large.

• Fauna were much more diverse.

• Most were herbivore grazers feeding on grass.

• Hooves were much smaller for travelling on firm

ground.

• Xeric feeders (equid, proboscidian, and bovid) were

replaced by the cervid mesic-adapted species which eat

leaves of dycotyledons, twig tips, and lichens.

• Juvenile mortality was very high due to predation and

the cold.

• Mature species had a high survival rate because of their

size.

• The dominant Pleistocene fauna are large grazing mammals such as the triad

of woolly mammoth, horned bison, and Pleistocene horses.

• The size of animals during the Pleistocene was very diverse. Rodents such

as lemmings and voles roamed Beringia as well.

• Animals that did survive the end of the last Ice Age are generally smaller

today than during the Pleistocene. We immediately think of the beaver, lions,

and bears.

Diversity and Size

• The most significant adaptations would be in response to the very cold

temperatures of the Pleistocene.

• A covering of hair; This kept in the heat and made them warmer.

• They became smaller; Being smaller requires less food and it allows less heat

to escape.

• Animals migrated equator-ward; There it was warmer, and they could get a

bite to eat.

Adaptations

Behaviour

• The Pleistocene Fauna has been repeatedly

compared to the modern African savannah

fauna.

• The woolly mammoth is compared to the

Elephant,

• The woolly rhinoceros to the rhinoceros, and

• The saiga antelope to the antelope.

PLEISTOCENE FAUNA

A. Pleistocene Fauna of Siberia

• woolly mammoth

• cave lions

• tarpans

• woolly rhinoceros

Woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius)

• This was a cold climate dweller equipped with a thick layer of fat for

insulation, and an exterior of long black hair.

• It was smaller than most mammoths,

• And had a hump of fat behind its domed head.

• It fed on low tundra vegetation in which it scraped away snow and ice from

with its ivory tusks.

• Several well preserved remains have been found in Siberia and Alaska and

cave paintings in Spain and France show depictions of the Wooly Mammoth as

seen by early humans.

• They went extinct only about 10,000 years ago.

• Size - 9ft. (2.7m) high  

Fossils of woolly mammoth

Cave Lion (Panthera leo spelaea) • The cave lion also known as the European or Eurasian

cave lion,

• The cave lion received its common name from the fact

that large quantities of its remains are found in caves.

• The cave lion itself lived from 370,000 to 10,000

years ago, during the Pleistocene epoch. Apparently, it

became extinct about 10,000 years ago, during the

Würm glaciation,

• Although there are some indications it may have

existed into historic times in southeastern Europe, as

recently as 2,000 years ago in the Balkans.

• Cave lions were widespread in parts of Europe and

Asia, from Great Britain, Germany and Spain all the

way to the Bering Strait and from Siberia to Turkistan.

Woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis)

• Is an extinct species of rhinoceros native to

the northern steppes of Eurasia that lived

during the Pleistocene epoch and survived

the last glacial period.

• The woolly rhinoceros are members of the

Pleistocene megafauna. Many species of

Pleistocene megafauna, like the woolly

rhinoceros, became Human and

Neanderthal hunting is often cited as one

cause of extinction

Tarpan (Equus ferus ferus)

• The name "tarpan" or "tarpani" is from a Turkic

language (Kyrgyz or Kazakh) name meaning

"wild horse".

• Tarpan, also known as Eurasian wild horse is an

extinct subspecies of wild horse.

• The last individual of this subspecies died in

captivity in Russia in 1909.

• The Tarpan is a prehistoric wild horse type that

ranged from Southern France and Spain east to

central Russia.

B. Pleistocene Fauna Of South America

• Megatherium

(Megatherium americanum ) • Elephant-sized ground sloths

• Endemic to Central America and South America that lived

from the Pliocene through Pleistocene existing

approximately 5.289 million years.

• They inhabited woodlands and grasslands.

• Promegatherium is suggested to be the ancestor of

Megatherium.

• The oldest (and smallest) species of Megatherium is M.

altiplanicum of Pliocene Bolivia. It was very similar to

the Miocene ground sloth,

• Species of Megatherium became larger and larger, with

the largest species, M. americanum of the late

Pleistocene, reaching the size of an African Elephant.

List of Pleistocene Animals• Insectivora (shrews and moles)

– Arctic Shrew

– Northern Water Shrew

– Starnose Mole

– Hairytail Mole

• Edentata (sloths, armadillos, and

anteaters)

– Ground Sloths (extinct)

– Beautiful Armadillo (extinct)

• Carnivora (lions, tigers, and

bears)

– Short-faced Skunk (extinct)

– Dire Wolf (extinct)

– Short-faced Bear (extinct)

– American Lion (extinct)

– Saber-toothed Cats (extinct)

– Jaguar

• Lagomorpha (rabbits and

hares)

– Snowshoe Hare

Rodentia (squirrels, rats, mice and

beavers)

– Giant Beaver (extinct)

– Northern Grasshopper Mouse

– Northern Bog Lemming

– Mountain (Heather) Phenacomys

– Boreal Redback Vole

– Yellow-cheeked Vole

– Porcupine

Perissodactlya (horses, rhinos, and

tapirs)

– Horses (extinct in North America)

– Tapirs (extinct in North America)

Artiodactyla (deer, cows, sheep,

camels, and pigs)

– Peccaries (extinct)

– Stag-moose (extinct)

– Bison

– Musk Ox (some types extinct)

Proboscidea (elephants)

– American Mastodon

– Mammoths

List of Pleistocene Animals

References

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleistocene

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleistocene_megafauna

• http://hoopermuseum.earthsci.carleton.ca/beringia/fauna.html

• http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/larson/ice_age_animals.html