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Species-specific responses of Late Quaternary megafauna to climate and humans

  1. Author:
    Lorenzen, E. D.
    Nogues-Bravo, D.
    Orlando, L.
    Weinstock, J.
    Binladen, J.
    Marske, K. A.
    Ugan, A.
    Borregaard, M. K.
    Gilbert, M. T. P.
    Nielsen, R.
    Ho, S. Y. W.
    Goebel, T.
    Graf, K. E.
    Byers, D.
    Stenderup, J. T.
    Rasmussen, M.
    Campos, P. F.
    Leonard, J. A.
    Koepfli, K. P.
    Froese, D.
    Zazula, G.
    Stafford, T. W.
    Aaris-Sorensen, K.
    Batra, P.
    Haywood, A. M.
    Singarayer, J. S.
    Valdes, P. J.
    Boeskorov, G.
    Burns, J. A.
    Davydov, S. P.
    Haile, J.
    Jenkins, D. L.
    Kosintsev, P.
    Kuznetsova, T.
    Lai, X. L.
    Martin, L. D.
    McDonald, H. G.
    Mol, D.
    Meldgaard, M.
    Munch, K.
    Stephan, E.
    Sablin, M.
    Sommer, R. S.
    Sipko, T.
    Scott, E.
    Suchard, M. A.
    Tikhonov, A.
    Willerslev, R.
    Wayne, R. K.
    Cooper, A.
    Hofreiter, M.
    Sher, A.
    Shapiro, B.
    Rahbek, C.
    Willerslev, E.

  2. Author Address

    [Lorenzen, ED; Orlando, L; Weinstock, J; Binladen, J; Gilbert, MTP; Stenderup, JT; Rasmussen, M; Campos, PF; Stafford, TW; Aaris-Sorensen, K; Haile, J; Meldgaard, M; Willerslev, E] Univ Copenhagen, Ctr GeoGenet, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark. [Nogues-Bravo, D; Marske, KA; Borregaard, MK; Rahbek, C] Univ Copenhagen, Dept Biol, Ctr Macroecol Evolut & Climate, DK-2100 Copenhagen O, Denmark. [Ugan, A] Smithsonian Trop Res Inst, Ancon, Punama, Panama. [Nielsen, R] Univ Calif Berkeley, Dept Integrat Biol, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA. [Nielsen, R] Univ Calif Berkeley, Dept Stat, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA. [Nielsen, R] Univ Copenhagen, Dept Biol, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark. [Ho, SYW] Univ Sydney, Sch Biol Sci, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. [Goebel, T; Graf, KE] Texas A&M Univ, Dept Anthropol, Ctr Study Amer 1, College Stn, TX 77843 USA. [Byers, D] Missouri State Univ, Dept Sociol & Anthropol, Springfield, MO 65807 USA. [Leonard, JA] Uppsala Univ, Dept Evolutionary Biol, S-75236 Uppsala, Sweden. [Leonard, JA] EBD CSIC, Conservat & Evolutionary Genet Grp, Seville 41092, Spain. [Koepfli, KP; Wayne, RK] Univ Calif Los Angeles, Dept Ecol & Evolutionary Biol, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA. [Koepfli, KP] NCI, Lab Genom Divers, Frederick, MD 21702 USA. [Froese, D] Univ Alberta, Dept Earth & Atmospher Sci, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E3, Canada. [Zazula, G] Govt Yukon, Dept Tourism & Culture, Yukon Palaeontol Program, Whitehorse, YT Y1A 2C6, Canada. [Stafford, TW] Stafford Res Inc, Lafayette, CO 80026 USA. [Batra, P] Mt Holyoke Coll, Dept Earth & Environm, S Hadley, MA 01075 USA. [Haywood, AM] Univ Leeds, Sch Earth & Environm, Leeds LS2 9JT, W Yorkshire, England. [Singarayer, JS; Valdes, PJ] Univ Bristol, Sch Geog Sci, Bristol BS8 1SS, Avon, England. [Boeskorov, G] Russian Acad Sci, Siberian Branch, Diamond & Precious Met Geol Inst, Yakutsk 677891, Russia. [Burns, JA] Royal Alberta Museum, Edmonton, AB T5N 0M6, Canada. [Burns, JA] Manitoba Museum, Winnipeg, MB R3B 0N2, Canada. [Davydov, SP] Russian Acad Sci, Far E Branch, Pacific Inst Geog, NE Sci Stn, Chersky 678830, Russia. [Jenkins, DL] Univ Oregon, Museum Nat & Cultural Hist, Eugene, OR 97403 USA. [Kosintsev, P] Russian Acad Sci, Ural Branch, Inst Plant & Anim Ecol, Ekaterinburg 620144, Russia. [Kuznetsova, T] Moscow MV Lomonosov State Univ, Moscow 119899, Russia. [Lai, XL] China Univ Geosci, State Key Lab Biogeol & Environm Geol, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, Peoples R China. [Martin, LD] Univ Kansas, Museum Nat Hist, Lawrence, KS 66045 USA. [McDonald, HG] Natl Pk Serv, Pk Museum Management Program, Ft Collins, CO 80525 USA. [Mol, D] Nat Hist Museum, Rotterdam, Netherlands. [Munch, K] Aarhus Univ, BiRC, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. [Stephan, E] Landesamt Denkmalpflege, Regierungsprasidium Stuttgart, D-78467 Constance, Germany. [Sablin, M; Tikhonov, A] Russian Acad Sci, Inst Zool, St Petersburg 199034, Russia. [Sommer, RS] Univ Kiel, Inst Nat & Resource Conservat, Dept Landscape Ecol, D-24098 Kiel, Germany. [Sipko, T; Sher, A] Russian Acad Sci, Inst Ecol & Evolut, Moscow 119071, Russia. [Scott, E] San Bernardino Cty Museum, Div Geol Sci, Redlands, CA 92374 USA. [Suchard, MA] Univ Calif Los Angeles, David Geffen Sch Med, Dept Biomath Genet, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA. [Suchard, MA] Univ Calif Los Angeles, David Geffen Sch Med, Dept Human Genet, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA. [Suchard, MA] Univ Calif Los Angeles, Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Biostat, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA. [Willerslev, R] Univ Oslo, Museum Cultural Hist, N-0130 Oslo, Norway. [Cooper, A] Univ Adelaide, Australian Ctr Ancient DNA, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia. [Hofreiter, M] Univ York, Dept Biol, Area 2, York YO10 5DD, N Yorkshire, England. [Shapiro, B] Penn State Univ, Dept Biol, University Pk, PA 16802 USA. [Ugan, A] Univ Utah, Dept Anthropol, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 USA. [Ugan, A] Museo Hist Nat San Rafael, Mendoza, Argentina.;Willerslev, E (reprint author), Univ Copenhagen, Ctr GeoGenet, Oster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark;ewillerslev@snm.ku.dk
    1. Year: 2011
    2. Date: Nov
  2. Journal: Nature
    1. 479
    2. 7373
    3. Pages: 359-U195
  4. Type of Article: Article
  5. ISSN: 0028-0836
  1. Abstract:

    Despite decades of research, the roles of climate and humans in driving the dramatic extinctions of large-bodied mammals during the Late Quaternary period remain contentious. Here we use ancient DNA, species distribution models and the human fossil record to elucidate how climate and humans shaped the demographic history of woolly rhinoceros, woolly mammoth, wild horse, reindeer, bison and musk ox. We show that climate has been a major driver of population change over the past 50,000 years. However, each species responds differently to the effects of climatic shifts, habitat redistribution and human encroachment. Although climate change alone can explain the extinction of some species, such as Eurasian musk ox and woolly rhinoceros, a combination of climatic and anthropogenic effects appears to be responsible for the extinction of others, including Eurasian steppe bison and wild horse. We find no genetic signature or any distinctive range dynamics distinguishing extinct from surviving species, emphasizing the challenges associated with predicting future responses of extant mammals to climate and human-mediated habitat change.

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External Sources

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  2. DOI: 10.1038/nature10574
  3. View record in Web of Science®
  4. WOS: 000297059700037

Library Notes

  1. Fiscal Year: FY2011-2012
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