Between about 14,000 and 10,000 years ago, North and South America lost about 35 genera of large mammals, among them mammoths, mastodons, giant ground sloths, glyptodonts, giant short-faced bears, sabre-toothed cats, horses and camels. Similar losses took place in Australia some 45,000 years ago and in Europe and northern Asia. The cause is much debated. Some scientists blame the arrival of skilled hunters, the Clovis people and their predecessors, while others point to rapid climate change at the end of the last ice age, or a combination of both. The loss changed ecosystems, since large herbivores shaped forests and grassland.
Before and after
- from about 16,000 years ago to 8th millennium BCEEpipaleolithic
- about 15,100 years agoDogs are domesticated
- from about 15,000 years ago to 1st millennium BCEJōmon period
- from about 14,000 years ago to 9th millennium BCENatufian culture
- about 13,000 years agoThe megafauna of the Americas die out
- from about 13,000 years ago to 9,750s BCEYounger Dryas
- about 12,400 years agoEruption of Moekeshiwan [Lvinaya Past]
- about 12,000 years agoHolocene extinction
- from about 12,000 years ago to 7th millennium BCEConstruction of Göbekli Tepe
More in Evolution & life
- about 20,000 years agoThe earliest known pottery is made in China
- 76th century BCECats begin to live with farmers
- from c. 5,600s BCE to 4,900s BCELinear Pottery culture
- from 55th century BCE to 45th century BCEVinča culture
- from c. 3,500 BCE to 2,500 BCEAfanasevo culture
- from c. 3,300 BCE to 600 BCEBronze Age
The era
This moment belongs to the Human prehistory (300,000 years ago to 3,200 BCE), the human story before writing.