Quaternary extinction event

The late Pleistocene disappearance of many large animal species across multiple continents, especially in the Americas and Australia. Its causes remain debated, with climate change and human activity both implicated.

Overkill hypothesis: The hypothesis that human hunting drove many large animal species to extinction after people entered new continents. It attributes many late Pleistocene losses to human predation.
Late Pleistocene extinctions in the Americas: The extinction of many large mammals in North and South America near the end of the Pleistocene. The Americas experienced especially extensive losses around human arrival and climate change.
Pleistocene: The geological epoch from about 2.58 million to 11,700 years ago, marked by repeated glacial cycles. The event occurred near the close of this epoch.
Pleistocene extinction chronology: The dating of species disappearances near the end of the Pleistocene. Improved dates can test whether extinctions followed human arrival or climate shifts.
Quaternary climate change: Major shifts in temperature, precipitation, and ice cover during the Quaternary period. Climate shifts altered habitats as large animals disappeared.
Australian megafauna: Large-bodied animals that inhabited Australia during the Pleistocene. Their disappearance is central to evidence about early human impacts beyond the Americas.
Last Glacial Maximum: The interval of greatest global ice-sheet extent during the last glacial period, about 26,000 to 19,000 years ago. Its aftermath brought major environmental change before many extinctions.
Climate change and megafaunal extinction: Research on how past climate shifts contributed to the disappearance of large animals. The strength and regional reach of climate effects remain contested.
Pleistocene megafauna: Large-bodied animals that lived during the Pleistocene epoch. These are the animals whose losses define the extinction event.
Woolly mammoth: An extinct elephant adapted to cold Pleistocene environments across northern Eurasia and North America. Mammoth populations survived late on islands after mainland populations vanished.

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