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Swift JA, Bunce M, Dortch J, Douglass K, Faith JT, Fellows Yates JA, Field J, Haberle SG, Jacob E, Johnson CN, Lindsey E, Lorenzen ED, Louys J, Miller G, Mychajliw AM, Slon V, Villavicencio NA, Waters MR, Welker F, Wood R, Petraglia M, Boivin N, Roberts P. Micro Methods for Megafauna: Novel Approaches to Late Quaternary Extinctions and Their Contributions to Faunal Conservation in the Anthropocene. Bioscience 2019; 69:877-887. [PMID: 31719710 PMCID: PMC6829010 DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biz105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Drivers of Late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions are relevant to modern conservation policy in a world of growing human population density, climate change, and faunal decline. Traditional debates tend toward global solutions, blaming either dramatic climate change or dispersals of Homo sapiens to new regions. Inherent limitations to archaeological and paleontological data sets often require reliance on scant, poorly resolved lines of evidence. However, recent developments in scientific technologies allow for more local, context-specific approaches. In the present article, we highlight how developments in five such methodologies (radiocarbon approaches, stable isotope analysis, ancient DNA, ancient proteomics, microscopy) have helped drive detailed analysis of specific megafaunal species, their particular ecological settings, and responses to new competitors or predators, climate change, and other external phenomena. The detailed case studies of faunal community composition, extinction chronologies, and demographic trends enabled by these methods examine megafaunal extinctions at scales appropriate for practical understanding of threats against particular species in their habitats today.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jillian A Swift
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- Anthropology Department of Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawai’i
| | - Michael Bunce
- Trace and Environmental DNA Laboratory, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Joe Dortch
- Centre for Rock Art Research and Management, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Kristina Douglass
- Department of Anthropology and with the Institutes for Energy and the Environment, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania
| | - J Tyler Faith
- Natural History Museum of Utah and with the Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
| | - James A Fellows Yates
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Judith Field
- School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Simon G Haberle
- College of Asia and the Pacific and the School of Culture, History, and Language, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence, Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Eileen Jacob
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, England
| | - Chris N Johnson
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence, Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
- School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia
| | - Emily Lindsey
- La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, part of the Natural History Museum, Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California
| | - Eline D Lorenzen
- Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Julien Louys
- Australian Research Center for Human Evolution, Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Gifford Miller
- INSTAAR and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder
| | - Alexis M Mychajliw
- La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, part of the Natural History Museum, Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California
| | - Viviane Slon
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Natalia A Villavicencio
- Departamento de Ecología, in the Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Instituto de Ecología and Biodiversidad, Santiago, Chile
| | - Michael R Waters
- Center for the Study of the First Americans, the Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
| | - Frido Welker
- Evolutionary Genomics Section of the GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, and with the Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Rachel Wood
- Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - Michael Petraglia
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Nicole Boivin
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Patrick Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
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