The extinction of the many well-known large mammals (megafauna) of the Late Pleistocene epoch has usually been attributed to 'overkill' by human hunters, climatic/vegetational changes or to a combination of both. An accurate knowledge of the geography and chronology of these extinctions is crucial for testing these hypotheses. Previous assumptions that the megafauna of northern Eurasia had disappeared by the Pleistocene/Holocene transition were first challenged a decade ago by the discovery that the latest woolly mammoths on Wrangel Island, northeastern Siberia, were contemporaneous with ancient Egyptian civilization. Here we show that another spectacular megafaunal species, the giant deer or 'Irish elk', survived to around 6,900 radiocarbon yr bp (about 7,700 yr ago) in western Siberia-more than three millennia later than its previously accepted terminal date-and therefore, that the reasons for its ultimate demise are to be sought in Holocene not Pleistocene events. Before their extinction, both giant deer and woolly mammoth underwent dramatic shifts in distribution, driven largely by climatic/vegetational changes. Their differing responses reflect major differences in ecology.

The colonization of Eurasia by early humans is a key event after their spread out of Africa, but the nature, timing and ecological context of the earliest human occupation of northwest Europe is uncertain and has been the subject of intense debate. The southern Caucasus was occupied about 1.8 million years (Myr) ago, whereas human remains from Atapuerca-TD6, Spain (more than 780 kyr ago) and Ceprano, Italy (about 800 kyr ago) show that early Homo had dispersed to the Mediterranean hinterland before the Brunhes-Matuyama magnetic polarity reversal (780 kyr ago). Until now, the earliest uncontested artefacts from northern Europe were much younger, suggesting that humans were unable to colonize northern latitudes until about 500 kyr ago. Here we report flint artefacts from the Cromer Forest-bed Formation at Pakefield (52 degrees N), Suffolk, UK, from an interglacial sequence yielding a diverse range of plant and animal fossils. Event and lithostratigraphy, palaeomagnetism, amino acid geochronology and biostratigraphy indicate that the artefacts date to the early part of the Brunhes Chron (about 700 kyr ago) and thus represent the earliest unequivocal evidence for human presence north of the Alps.

The 'mass extinctions' at the end of the Pleistocene were unique, both in the Pleistocene and earlier in the geological record, in that the species lost were nearly all large terrestrial mammals. Although a global phenomenon, late Pleistocene extinctions were most severe in North America, South America and Australia, and moderate in northern Eurasia (Europe plus Soviet Asia). In Africa, where nearly all of the late Pleistocene 'megafauna' survives to the present day, losses were slight. Ruling out epidemic disease or cosmic catastrophe, the contending hypotheses to explain late Pleistocene extinctions are: (a) failure to adapt to climatic/environmental change; and (b) extermination by human hunters ('prehistoric overkill'). This review focuses on extinctions in northern Eurasia (mainly Europe) in comparison with North America. In addition to reviewing the faunal evidence, the highly relevant environmental and archaeological backgrounds are summarized. The latest survival dates of extinct species are estimated from stratigraphic occurrences of fossil remains, radiocarbon dates, or association with archaeological industries. The Middle and Upper Pleistocene (ca. 700,000-10,000 BP) in northern Eurasia and North America was a time of constantly changing climate, ranging from phases of extensive glaciation in cold stages, to temperate periods (interglacials). In the Lateglacial (ca. 15,000-10,000 BP), during which most extinctions occurred, there was a major reorganization of vegetation, mainly involving the replacement of open vegetation by forests. These changes were more profound than earlier in the Last Cold Stage, but similar in nature to vegetational changes that took place at previous cold stage/interglacial transitions. The archaeological record shows that humans have been present in Europe since the early Middle Pleistocene. The arrival in Europe ca. 35,000 BP of 'anatomically modern humans', with their technologically more advanced upper palaeolithic industries, was a 'quantum leap' in human history. Extinctions occurred throughout the European Pleistocene, but until the late Pleistocene most losses were replaced by the evolution or immigration of new species, and most of those lost without replacement were small mammals. In marked contrast, extinctions without replacement in the late Pleistocene were almost entirely confined to the largest mammals (greater than 1000 kg) and some medium-large species (100-1000 kg).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

This paper provides an overview of the contentious issue of global megafaunal extinctions in the Late Quaternary. The main proposed causes are ‘overkill’, environmental change or a combination of both. There are major objections to the other suggested causes. Extinctions were highly variable in their severity between different zoogeographical regions, with the greatest impact in North America, South America and Australia, but also substantial in northern Eurasia. Sub‐Saharan Africa and Southern Asia were much less affected. For northern Eurasia, detailed chronologies show a staggered extinction pattern, in which each megafaunal species exhibits unique and complex distributional shifts, culminating in extinction for some species and survival in others. Environmental drivers were clearly very important, although the possible role of humans is not yet clear. Alaska/Yukon also has a good radiocarbon record which also suggests a staggered extinction pattern. However, the available data for the rest of North America are largely unsatisfactory. South America also boasted spectacular extinct megafauna, but again the currently available dates are insufficient to reliably discern patterns or possible causes. Australia and New Guinea also suffered major losses, but extinctions probably occurred much earlier than elsewhere, so that establishing a chronology is especially difficult. Africa and Southern Asia have the least available data. In order to make meaningful progress, it is vital to establish a large database of reliable radiocarbon dates for each region made directly on securely identified megafaunal remains. The need is for much more high quality data, not more debate based on imperfect evidence. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.