Pleistocene Presented by AMAAN ALI Fauna PLEISTOCENE Greek

Pleistocene Presented by: AMAAN ALI Fauna

PLEISTOCENE • Greek (pleistos "most") and (kainos "new"). Subdivisions of the Quaternary Period • The Pleistocene Epoch lasted from about System Series Stage Age (Ma) 1. 65 million until 10, 000 years ago. Holocene 0– 0. 0117 • During that time numerous types of animals inhabited the area that is now the Tarantian 0. 0117– (Upper) 0. 126 midwestern United States. Most of these types of animals are no longer found in the Ionian 0. 126– 0. 781 area. (Middle) Quaternary Pleistocene • Some of these animals are extinct. Others Calabrian 0. 781– 1. 806 are still around but no longer occur in the (Lower) area. Gelasian • The Pleistocene was known for its ice ages. 1. 806– 2. 588 (Lower) • An ice age is a time when many glaciers Neogene Pliocene Piacenzian older cover many parts of the earth

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.

Diversity and 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.

Adaptations • 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.

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 - 9 ft. (2. 7 m) 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) • 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 hares) (rabbits – Snowshoe Hare and

List of Pleistocene Animals Rodentia (squirrels, rats, mice and beavers) Artiodactyla (deer, cows, sheep, camels, and pigs) – Giant Beaver (extinct) – Northern Grasshopper Mouse – Northern Bog Lemming – Mountain (Heather) Phenacomys – Bison – Boreal Redback Vole – Musk Ox (some types extinct) – Yellow-cheeked Vole – Porcupine Perissodactlya (horses, rhinos, and tapirs) – Horses (extinct in North America) – Tapirs (extinct in North America) – Peccaries (extinct) – Stag-moose (extinct) Proboscidea (elephants) – American Mastodon – Mammoths

References • http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Pleistocene_me gafauna • http: //hoopermuseum. earthsci. carleton. ca/be ringia/fauna. html • http: //www. museum. state. il. us/exhibits/lars on/ice_age_animals. html