North America's late-Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions occurred roughly 13,800-11,400 years ago
Documented · occurred What these labels mean →The late Pleistocene saw the extinction of 35 genera of North American mammals; the last appearance dates of 16 of them securely fall between 12,000 and 10,000 radiocarbon years ago (approximately 13,800-11,400 calendar years B.P.), and the chronology can be characterized as a synchronous event. The source framed the window globally as 13,000-11,000 years ago; elsewhere the timing differs, and the cause is not settled by this record.
Evidence
| Relation | Record | Note |
|---|---|---|
| documents | eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov | Faith & Surovell, 'Synchronous extinction of North America's Pleistocene mammals', PNAS 2009;106(49):20641-5 (abstract): 35 genera; 16 'securely fall between 12,000 and 10,000 radiocarbon years ago (approximately 13,800-11,400 calendar years B.P.)'; 'a synchronous event' |
| corroborates | cosmictusk.com | Holliday et al. 2023, discusses extinction timing |
Sources
| Source | Relation | At |
|---|---|---|
| Hancock and Carlson on JRE 1897 (Younger Dryas) | reports |
Claim
The late Pleistocene saw the extinction of 35 genera of North American mammals; the last appearance dates of 16 of them securely fall between 12,000 and 10,000 radiocarbon years ago (approximately 13,800-11,400 calendar years B.P.), and the chronology can be characterized as a synchronous event. The source framed the window globally as 13,000-11,000 years ago; elsewhere the timing differs, and the cause is not settled by this record.