Mammal extinction facilitated biome shift and human population change during the last glacial termination in East-Central Europe.

ABSTRACT: The study of local extinction times, together with the associated environmental and human population changes in the last glacial termination, provides insights into the causes of mega- and microfauna extinctions. In East-Central (EC) Europe, groups of Palaeolithic humans were present throughout the last glacial maximum, but disappeared suddenly around 15,200 cal BP. In this study cave sediment profiles dated using radiocarbon techniques and a large set of mammal bones dated directly by AMS ¹⁴C were used to determine local extinction times. These were, in turn, compared to changes in the total megafauna population of EC Europe derived from coprophilous fungi, the Epigravettian population decline, quantitative climate models, pollen and plant macrofossil inferred climate, as well

SUBMITTER: Magyari EK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9043214 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature