But what is clear from tracks at White Sands is that humans were then, as now, “apex predators” at the top of the food chain. There are many variables including rapid environmental change to be considered. Whether humans were the ultimate or immediate cause of the extinction is still not clear. Unfortunately, it doesn’t cast light on the impact of that hunting. Our data confirms that human hunters were attacking megafauna and were practiced at it. It is a giant crime scene in which footprints now play a part. Others argue that climate change was the true cause and our species is innocent. Many palaeontologists favour the argument that human over-hunting drove this wave of extinction and for some it has become an emblem of early human impact on the environment. It was also a time of animal extinctions. What would convince our ancestors to engage is such a deadly game? Surely the bigger the prey, the greater the risk? Maybe it was because a big kill could fill many stomachs without waste, or maybe it was pure human bravado.Īt this time at the end of the last Ice Age, the Americas were being colonised by humans spreading out over the prairie plains. ![]() Large powerful claws on the sloths' hands were probably for digging as well as defense.Matthew Bennett, dusting for prints.The adaptations and biology of living tree sloths are very different from extinct ground sloths comparisions should be limited.90% of sloth genera became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene.The diversity of sloths in the fossil record is high over 100 genera are recognized.May have provided extended parental care. It probably had mainly a browsing diet in open habitats, but also it. Ground sloths juveniles would have been vulnerable to the large cat predators ( Smilodon, Homotherium, Panthera atrox) and perhaps Dire Wolves. The giant ground sloth lived mostly in groups, but it may have lived singly in caves. ![]() Some exclusively herbivorous, some species also ate meat. Paramylodon harlani often found with mammoths in North Americaĭiets of ground sloths varied. Studies suggest a range of movements, including tree-climbing, swimming, and burrowing.Įxtinct ground sloths shared habitats with other large herbivores. Megalonyx jeffersoni : gallery forests along rivers or lakesĪll giant ground sloths are extinct. Nothrotheriops shastensis: areas that were drier during the Pleistocene-open savanna scrub land with trees deciduous forests Paramylodon harlani : preferred areas of open grass or parkland, perhaps near water not found in dry areas Megalonyx jeffersoni : wide distribution in over 150 sites in United States, including Alaska, northwestern Canada, Mexico ![]() Nothrotheriops shastensis: primarily western U.S. Prey: Predation Attempt of Ocelot to a Sloth Caught in the Act. Paramylodon harlani : widely distributed across the U.S., especially in western states Sloths Remarkable Defense Against Ground Predator Caught on Camera in the Amazon. Long hairs, especially on flanks and rear limbs. Nothrotheriops shastensis: about the size of a black bear Megalonyx jeffersoni : estimated near 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) Nothrotheriops shastensis: estimated 250 kg (551 lb) Paramylodon harlani : varied estimates from 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) to 1,089 kg (2,400 lb) Taxonomyįamily: Nothrotheriidae (family is extinct)įamily: Megalonychidae (family has extinct and living/extant members) Image credit: © San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.
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