Late Pleistocene: Difference between revisions

The '''Late Pleistocene''' is an unofficial [[Age (geology)|age]] in the international [[geologic timescale]] in [[chronostratigraphy]], also known as the '''upperUpper Pleistocene''' from a [[Stratigraphy|stratigraphic]] perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of the [[Pleistocene]] Epoch within the ongoing [[Quaternary]] Period. It is currently defined as the time between c. 129,000 and c. 11,700 years ago. The late Pleistocene equates to the proposed '''Tarantian''' Age of the [[geologic time scale]], preceded by the officially ratified [[Chibanian]] (commonly known as the Middle Pleistocene).<ref name="ICC"/> The beginning of the Late Pleistocene is the transition between the end of the [[Penultimate Glacial Period]] and the beginning of the [[Last Interglacial]] around 130,000 years ago (corresponding with the beginning of [[Marine Isotope Stage 5]]).<ref name="Eemian">{{Cite journal |title=Eemian interglacial reconstructed from a Greenland folded ice core |journal=Nature |volume=493 |issue=7433 |pages=489–494 |year=2013 |author=D. Dahl-Jensen & others |bibcode=2013Natur.493..489N |url=http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/500331/1/2012-07-09846-NEEM_revised.pdf |doi=10.1038/nature11789 |pmid=23344358|s2cid=4420908 }}</ref> The Late Pleistocene ends with the termination of the [[Younger Dryas]], some [[10th millennium BC|11,700 years ago]] when the [[Holocene]] Epoch began.<ref name="FRS"/>

Following the brief Last Interglacial warm period (~130-115,000 years ago), where temperatures were comparable to or warmer than the Holocene, the Late Pleistocene was dominated by the cool [[Last Glacial Period]], with temperatures graduate lowering over the course ofthroughout the period, reaching their lowest during the [[Last Glacial Maximum]] around 26-20,000 years ago.

Most of the world's large ([[megafauna]]l) animals became extinct during the Late Pleistocene as part of the [[Late Pleistocene extinctions]], a trend that continued into the Holocene. In [[palaeoanthropology]], the late Pleistocene contains the [[Upper Palaeolithic]] stage of human development, including the [[early human migrations]] of modern humans outside of Africa, and the extinction of the last remainingall [[archaic human]] species.

The Lastlast Ice Age was followed by the [[Late Glacial Interstadial]], a period of global warming to 12.9 ka, and the [[Younger Dryas]], a return to glacial conditions until 11.7 ka. [[PalaeoclimatologyPaleoclimatology]] holds that there was a sequence of [[stadial]]s and [[interstadial]]s from about 16 ka until the end of the Pleistocene. These were the [[Oldest Dryas]] (stadial), the [[Bølling oscillation]] (interstadial), the [[Older Dryas]] (stadial), the [[Allerød oscillation]] (interstadial) and finally the Younger Dryas.<ref>{{cite encyclopaedia |url=http://people.oregonstate.edu/~carlsand/carlson_encyclopedia_Quat_2013_YD.pdf |encyclopaedia=Encyclopaedia of Quaternary Science |year=2013 |volume=3 |pages=126–134 |first=A. E. |last=Carlson |publisher=Elsevier |title=The Younger Dryas Climate Event}}</ref>

The end of the Younger Dryas marks the boundary between the Pleistocene and Holocene Epochs. ManHominids in all parts of the world waswere still culturally and technologically in the [[Palaeolithic|Palaeolithic (Old Stone) Age]]. Tools and weapons were basic stone or wooden implements. [[Nomad|Nomadic tribes]] followed moving herds. Non-nomadics acquired their food by [[Hunter-gatherer|gathering and hunting]].{{sfn|Bronowski|1973|pp=59–60}}

Its present physical geography and climate hashave undergone changeschanged over time caused by the movement of [[tectonic plates]] and volcanoes but [[glacial cycle]]s and sea level variation hashave a more significant effect on the [[vertebrate]] communities during the '''Late Pleistocene'''.<ref name=":03">{{Citation |last=Steele |first=T.E. |title=VERTEBRATEVertebrate RECORDSRecords {{!}} Late Pleistocene of Africa |date=2013 |workencyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science |pages=664–672 |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/B9780444536433002478 |access-date=2024-03-17 |publisher=Elsevier |language=en |doi=10.1016/b978-0-444-53643-3.00247-8 |isbn=978-0-444-53642-6}}</ref>

Some species which went extinct at the end of the Late Pleistocene in Southern Africa are the [[Metridiochoerus|Giantgiant Warthogwarthog]], Longlong-horn buffalo, [[Southern springbok|Southern Springbok]], etc.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |lastlast1=Backwell |firstfirst1=Lucinda |last2=Steininger |first2=Christine |last3=Neveling |first3=Johann |last4=Abdala |first4=Fernando |last5=Pereira |first5=Lucy |last6=Mayer |first6=Elver |last7=Rossouw |first7=Lloyd |last8=de la Peña |first8=Paloma |last9=Brink |first9=James |date=November 2018 |title=Holocene large mammal mass death assemblage from South Africa |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618217312636 |journal=Quaternary International |language=en |volume=495 |pages=49–63 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2017.11.055|bibcode=2018QuInt.495...49B |hdl=11336/57611 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> These species were common because their distribution changed in response to climatic influences on vegetation. [[Carnivore|CanivoresCarnivores]] were more widespread due to their varying habitat requirements.

[[File:Nazlet_Khater_Skeleton_from_above.jpg|thumb|image of Nazlet Khater skeleton found in Upper Egypt showing early human culture dating back to aproximatelyapproximately 30-40 Ka]]

Most of the knowledge of the Late Pleistocene is gottenobtained from regions like [[Morocco]], [[Algeria]], [[Tunisia]], some coastal regions of [[Maghreb]], [[Libya]] and [[Egypt]]. The only issue with interpreting the data from this region is due to the lack of chronological information<u>.<ref name=":03" /> The resemblance of Late Pleistocene species in Northern Africa to modern animals is the same as in Southern Africa but it's extremely difficult to date when these fauna came into place because of the lack of reliable samples from the mid-Pleistocene.</uref>{{Cite journal |last=Geraads |first=Denis |date=2002 |title=Plio-Pleistocene mammalian biostratigraphy of Atlantic Morocco / Biostratigraphie des mammifères Plio-Pléistocènes du Maroc atlantique. |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/quate_1142-2904_2002_num_13_1_1702 |journal=Quaternaire |language=fr |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=43–53 |doi=10.3406/quate.2002.1702 |issn=1142-2904}}</ref> Most of the significant fossil records are from the Maghreb because of its [[geology]] which helps to create deep caves which is a good areaconducive for preserving [[fossil]]s while the other sites are just open-air sites.

[[Neanderthal]] hominins (''Homo neanderthalensis'') inhabited Eurasia until becoming extinct between 40 and 30 ka., towards the end of the Pleistocene and possibly into the early Holocene{{sfn|Bronowski|1973|pp=59–60}}{{sfn|Teeple|2002|pp=12–13}}and Towardswere thereplaced endwith ofmodern thehumans (''[[Human|Homo sapiens]])'' who emerged from East Africa about 195,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=White |first1=Tim D. |last2=Asfaw |first2=Berhane |last3=DeGusta |first3=David |last4=Gilbert |first4=Henry |last5=Richards |first5=Gary D. |last6=Suwa |first6=Gen |last7=Clark Howell |first7=F. |date=June 2003 |title=Pleistocene andHomo possiblysapiens intofrom Middle Awash, Ethiopia |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature01669 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=423 |issue=6941 |pages=742–747 |doi=10.1038/nature01669 |pmid=12802332 |issn=0028-0836}}</ref> Neanderthals co-existed with the early''Homo sapiens'' until they died out.{{Cn|date=April 2024}} Holocene,

In Eurasia, extinction happened throughout the [[Pleistocene]] but those that happened during the Later Pleistocene were of megafauna and there were no replacements for the extinct species.{{Cn|date=April 2024}} Some [[Mollusca]]n species went extinct but not on the same scale as the mammals living during the time.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Howell |first=F.Clark |date=July 1978 |title=British Quaternary Studies. Recent Advances Edited by F. W. Shotton. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 298 pp., $23.00 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(78)90021-2 |journal=Quaternary Research |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=138–138138 |doi=10.1016/0033-5894(78)90021-2 |issn=0033-5894}}</ref> Some examples of species which extinct without replacements include the [[Straight-tusked elephant]] (''Palaeoloxodon antiquus''), [[Irish elk|Giant deer]] (''Megaloceros giganteus''), [[Cave bear|cave beerbear]] (''Ursus spelaeus'') and [[woolly rhinoceros]] (''Coelodonta antiquitatis'').<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Stuart |first=Anthony J. |date=November 1991 |title=Mammalian Extinctions in the Late Pleistocene of Northern Eurasia and North America |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-185X.1991.tb01149.x |journal=Biological Reviews |language=en |volume=66 |issue=4 |pages=453–562 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-185X.1991.tb01149.x |pmid=1801948 |issn=1464-7931}}</ref> Several large mammalian species including the [[mammoth]], [[mastodon]], and [[Irish elk]] became extinct.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sutcliffe |first=Antony J. |title=On the track of ice age mammals |date=1986 |publisher=British Museum (Natural History) |isbn=978-0-565-00869-7 |edition=Reprinted with amendments |location=London}}</ref>

Upper paleolithicPaleolithic people also made paintings and engravings on walls. Some [[caveCave painting]]s have been found at [[Lascaux]] in the [[Dordogne]] which may be more than 17,000 years old. These are mainly of [[European bison|buffalo]], [[deer]], and other animals hunted by manhumans. Later paintings occur in caves throughout the world, with further examples atincluding [[Cave of Altamira|Altamira]], (Spain), and in India, Australia, and the Sahara.{{sfn|Teeple|2002|pp=12–13}}<ref>{{Citation |last1=Martin-Sanchez |first1=Pedro M. |title=13. Lascaux Cave: An Example of Fragile Ecological Balance in Subterranean Environments |date=2015-10-16 |work=Microbial Life of Cave Systems |pages=279–302 |editor-last=Summers Engel |editor-first=Annette |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110339888-015/html |access-date=2024-02-12 |publisher=de Gruyter |doi=10.1515/9783110339888-015 |isbn=978-3-11-033499-9 |last2=Miller |first2=Ana Z. |last3=Saiz-Jimenez |first3=Cesareo}}</ref>{{sfn|Teeple|2002|pp=12–13}}

[[Magdalenian]] hunter-gatherers were widespread in western Europe about 20 -12.500 [[cal BP]] years ago until the end of the Pleistocene.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bicho |first1=Nuno |last2=Haws |first2=Jonathan |date=2012-09-12 |title=The Magdalenian in central and southern Portugal: Human ecology at the end of the Pleistocene |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618212001449 |journal=Quaternary International |series=The Magdalenian Settlement of Europe |volume=272-273 |pages=6–16 |bibcode=2012QuInt.272....6B |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2012.02.055 |bibcode=2012QuInt.272....6B |issn=1040-6182}}</ref> yearsAn agoexample untilof this is the endantler-working ofdone by the Pleistocene.human Theygroups inventedwho thelived earliestin knownthe [[harpoonSantimamiñe|Santimamine]]s usingcave [[reindeer]]in hornthe Magdalenian.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Erostarbe-Tome |first=Asier |date=December 2023 |title=Antler working by the last European Pleistocene hunter-gatherers of Santimamiñe cave (Northern Iberian Peninsula): technological implications of osseous equipment during the Magdalenian |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12520-023-01897-z |journal=Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences |language=en |volume=15 |issue=12 |page=200 |bibcode=2023ArAnS..15..200E |doi=10.1007/s12520-023-01897-z |issn=1866-9557 |doi-access=free}}</ref> They invented the earliest known [[harpoon]]s using [[reindeer]] horn.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://leseyzies-tourist.info/the-magdalenian/ |title=History of the Magdalenian |work=The Magdalenian |publisher=Les Eyzies |date=2019 |access-date=18 November 2019 |archive-date=18 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118043550/https://leseyzies-tourist.info/the-magdalenian/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2020}}

Climatic conditions during the Late Pleistocene in Eurasia were predominantly cold with [[glaciation]] events happening in [[northern Europe]], northwest [[Siberia]] and [[Alps|the Alps]] and [[Interglacial|interglacials]] (temperate phase). theThe evidence of the changes in climatic conditions werewas from fragmentary sequences in formerformerly glaciated areas in [[northern Europe]].<ref name=":2"/>

The only domesticated animal in the Pleistocene was the [[dog]], which evolved from the [[wolf|grey wolf]] into its many modern [[dog breeds|breeds]]. It is believed that the grey wolf became associated with hunter-gatherer tribes around 15 kaKa.<ref name="PAD">{{cite book |doi=10.1007/13836_2018_55 |chapter=Palaeogenomics of Animal Domestication |title=Palaeogenomics |pages=225–272 |series=Population Genomics |year=2018 |author=Evan K. Irving-Pease |display-authors=etal |publisher=Springer, Cham |editor1-last=Lindqvist |editor1-first=C. |editor2-last=Rajora |editor2-first=O. |isbn=978-3-030-04752-8|chapter-url=http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/46323 }}</ref> The earliest remains of a true domestic dog have been dated to 14,200 years ago.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1007/13836_2018_27 |chapter=Palaeogenomic Inferences of Dog Domestication |title=Palaeogenomics |pages=273–306 |series=Population Genomics |year=2018 |author1=Olaf Thalmann |author2=Angela R. Perri |publisher=Springer, Cham |editor1-last=Lindqvist |editor1-first=C. |editor2-last=Rajora |editor2-first=O. |isbn=978-3-030-04752-8}}</ref> Domestication first happened in Eurasia but could have been anywhere from Western Europe to East Asia.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1146/annurev-animal-022516-022747 |title=Taming the Past: Ancient DNA and the Study of Animal Domestication |journal=Annual Review of Animal Biosciences |volume=5 |year=2016 |author=David E. Machugh |display-authors=etal |pmid=27813680 |pages=329–351}}</ref> Domestication of other animals such as cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep did not begin until the Holocene when settled farming communities became established in the Near East.<ref name="PAD"/> The [[cat]] was probably not domesticated before {{Circa|7500 BC}} at the earliest, again in the [[Near East]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=C. A. Driscoll |display-authors=etal |title=The Near Eastern Origin of Cat Domestication |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=317 |issue=5837 |date=2007 |pages=519–523 |issn=0036-8075 |doi=10.1126/science.1139518 |pmc=5612713 |pmid=17600185 |bibcode=2007Sci...317..519D}}</ref>

In the [[North American land mammal age]] scale, the [[Rancholabrean]] spans the time from c. 240,000 years ago to c. 11,000 years ago. It is named after the [[Rancho La Brea]] fossil site in [[California]], characterisedcharacterized by extinct forms of [[bison]] in association with other Pleistocene species such as the [[mammoth]].<ref>A. E. Sanders, R. E. Weems & L. B. Albright III (2009). ''Formalization of the mid-Pleistocene "Ten Mile Hill beds" in South Carolina with evidence for placement of the Irvingtonian-Rancholabrean boundary''. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin (64:369–375).</ref><ref>D. E. Savage (1951). ''Late Cenozoic vertebrates of the San Francisco Bay region''. University of California Publications; Bulletin of the Department of Geological Sciences (28:215–314).</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Bell, C. J. |year=2004 |chapter=The Blancan, Irvingtonian, and Rancholabrean mammal ages |title=Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic Mammals of North America: Biostratigraphy and Geochronology |editor=Woodburne, M. O. |pages=232–314 |location=New York | publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=0-231-13040-6}}</ref>[[File:Skull of the Bison occidentalis.jpg|thumb|right|''Bison occidentalis'' skull at the [[Cleveland Museum of Natural History]].]]During the Late Pleistocene about 35 genera of [[megafauna]] went extinct including species such as [[mastodon]]s, [[Machairodontinae|saber-toothed cats]] and [[Megatherium|giant ground sloths]]. Some other species went extinct in [[North America]] but not globally. it is still{{when|date=April 2024}} heavily debated{{whom|date=April 2024}} what caused the extinctions.

AOver large50 numbergenera (~ 83%) of [[megafauna]] in South and [[North America]] went extinct during the Pleistocene.<ref>{{Cite Injournal North|last1=Prado |first1=José L. |last2=Martinez-Maza |first2=Cayetana |last3=Alberdi |first3=María T. |date=May 2015 |title=Megafauna extinction in South America: A new chronology for the Argentine Pampas |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0031018215000899 |journal=Palaeogeography, aboutPalaeoclimatology, 70%Palaeoecology of|language=en |volume=425 |pages=41–49 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.02.026}}</ref> most mega mammals weighing(>1000kg) aboutand 44&nbsp;kglarge mammals (>40kg) went extinct duringby the timeend periodof the Late Pleistocene.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Cione |first1=Alberto L. |title=Did Humans Cause the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene Mammalian Extinctions in South America in a Context of 13Shrinking Open Areas? |date=2009 |work=American Megafaunal Extinctions at the End of the Pleistocene |pages=125–144 |editor-12last=Haynes k|editor-first=Gary cal|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-1-4020-8793-6_7 BP|access-date=2024-04-19 |place=Dordrecht |publisher=Springer Netherlands |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-4020-8793-6_7 |isbn=978-1-4020-8792-9 |last2=Tonni |first2=Eduardo P. |last3=Soibelzon |first3=Leopoldo}}</ref> During this period there was a major cooling event called the [[Younger Dryas|Younger dryas]] and the [[Clovis culture]] of capturing [[Game (hunting)|game]] became more prominent.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Prates |first1=Luciano |last2=Perez |first2=S. Ivan |date=2021-04-12 |title=Late Pleistocene South American megafaunal extinctions associated with rise of Fishtail points and human population |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=2175 |doi=10.1038/s41467-021-22506-4 |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=8041891 |pmid=33846353|bibcode=2021NatCo..12.2175P }}</ref> Diverse factors such as climate change may have triggered this extinctionsextinction but itsit's still in debate what the major factors were.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Broughton |first1=Jack M. |last2=Weitzel |first2=Elic M. |date=2018-12-21 |title=Population reconstructions for humans and megafauna suggest mixed causes for North American Pleistocene extinctions |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=5441 |doi=10.1038/s41467-018-07897-1 |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=6303330 |pmid=30575758|bibcode=2018NatCo...9.5441B }}</ref>

In Australia, there are sites which showsshow evidence of pollen records from the [[Late Pleistocene]] and they are mostly found in more [[Temperate climate|temperate]] regions of the continent.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=van der Kaars |first=W. A. |date=1991-06-01 |title=Palynology of eastern Indonesian marine piston-cores: a Late Quaternary vegetational and climatic record for Australasia |url=https://wwwdx.sciencedirectdoi.comorg/science10.1016/article/pii/003101829190163L0031-0182%2891%2990163-L |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=85 |issue=3 |pages=239–302 |doi=10.1016/0031-0182(91)90163-L |bibcode=1991PPP....85..239V |issn=0031-0182}}</ref>. asSome for the [[megafauna]], notdecreased allin ofsize themover went. some evolved to dwarfs of their ancestorstime, while others remained the same; buthowever, there isn't muchthe fossil record tois showlimited in the exact chronologies of the extinctions.<ref>{{Cite journal |lastlast1=Wroe |firstfirst1=Stephen |last2=Field |first2=Judith H. |last3=Archer |first3=Michael |last4=Grayson |first4=Donald K. |last5=Price |first5=Gilbert J. |last6=Louys |first6=Julien |last7=Faith |first7=J. Tyler |last8=Webb |first8=Gregory E. |last9=Davidson |first9=Iain |last10=Mooney |first10=Scott D. |date=2013-05-28 |title=Climate change frames debate over the extinction of megafauna in Sahul (Pleistocene Australia-New Guinea) |url=https://pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1302698110 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=110 |issue=22 |pages=8777–8781 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1302698110 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=PMC36703263670326 |pmid=23650401 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2013PNAS..110.8777W }}</ref> .

In general, various reasons have been stated to have causecaused the extinctions during the [[Late Pleistocene]] but the topic is still being debated.<ref>{{Cite journal |lastlast1=Barnosky |firstfirst1=Anthony D. |last2=Koch |first2=Paul L. |last3=Feranec |first3=Robert S. |last4=Wing |first4=Scott L. |last5=Shabel |first5=Alan B. |date=October 2004-10 |title=Assessing the Causes of Late Pleistocene Extinctions on the Continents |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1101476 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=306 |issue=5693 |pages=70–75 |doi=10.1126/science.1101476 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=15459379|bibcode=2004Sci...306...70B }}</ref>.