Scylla Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Small populations led to inbreeding http://www.ibtimes.com/birth-defects-last-woolly-mammoths-suggest-inbreeding-may-have-led-species-extinction-1563590 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashcraft Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 It is interesting. The thing that puzzles me, if there was a fragmentation of their habitat, I assume the grasslands became forested, wouldn't this have led to an increase of mastodons? fkaa ashcraft, brent allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted March 26, 2014 Author Share Posted March 26, 2014 I suspect the little guys with fire and spears had something to do with it too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkGelbart Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 I believe it was human overhunting that led to the extinction of most, if not all, the megafauna because most of the species survived past climatic changes that were much more drastic than the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. However, humans probably didn't kill the very last survivors. They likely died out from infertility or defects due to inbreeding as this study suggests. Within the last couple years, climate change models seem to be coming back into fashion, but I still see substantial logical flaws in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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