Journal article
Synergistic roles of climate warming and human occupation in Patagonian megafaunal extinctions during the Last Deglaciation
JL Metcalf, C Turney, R Barnett, F Martin, SC Bray, JT Vilstrup, L Orlando, R Salas-Gismondi, D Loponte, M Medina, M De Nigris, T Civalero, PM Fernández, A Gasco, V Duran, KL Seymour, C Otaola, A Gil, R Paunero, FJ Prevosti Show all
Science Advances | Published : 2016
Abstract
The causes of Late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions (60, 000 to 11, 650 years ago, hereafter 60 to 11.65 ka) remain contentious, with major phases coinciding with both human arrival and climate change around the world. The Americas provide a unique opportunity to disentangle these factors as human colonization took place over a narrow timeframe (∼15 to 14.6 ka) but during contrasting temperature trends across each continent. Unfortunately, limited data sets in South America have so far precluded detailed comparison. We analyze genetic and radiocarbon data from 89 and 71 Patagonian megafaunal bones, respectively, more than doubling the high-quality Pleistocene megafaunal radiocarbon data se..
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Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
This research was funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) (DP140104233 and DP0664562) and the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) (grant NER/B/S/2003/00181 to A.C.). J.T.V. was funded by the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF94), and R.B. was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (02/A1/G/08351) and NERC (NER/B/S/2003/00181). ARC Future, Federation, and Laureate fellowships supported A.C. (FL140100260, FT099233, and FF0457313), C.T. (FL100100195), C.J.A.B. (DP130103842 and FT110100306), and J.J.A. (FT10010010). F.J.P. was funded by CONICET and Agencia Nacional de Promocion Cientifica y Tecnologica (PICT 2011-309 and PIP 2011-164).