Once and Future Giants: What Ice Age Extinctions Tell Us About the Fate of Earth's Largest Animals

274 Pages·2011·3.24 MB·English

by  Sharon Levy

ONCE AND FUTURE GIANTS
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ONCE & FUTURE
GIANTS
WHAT ICE AGE EXTINCTIONS TELL US ABOUT
THE FATE OF EARTH’S LARGEST ANIMALS
SHARON LEVY
1
1

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Copyright © 2011 by Sharon Levy
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Levy, Sharon, 1959-
Once and future giants : what Ice Age extinctions tell us
about the fate of Earth’s largest animals / Sharon Levy.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-537012-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Extinction (Biology)
2. Paleontology–Pleistocene. 3. Wildlife conservation. I. Title.
QE721.2.E97L48 2011
576.8ʹ4–dc22 2010025763
ISBN-13: 978-0-19-537012-6

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To Hugh, a very major dude
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CONTENTS
Illustrations ix
Prologue xi
ELEGY FOR THE MASTODON 1
MAMMOTH TRACKS 33
GIANTS DOWN UNDER 77
WILD DREAMS 107
WILD REALITIES 137
THE BIG HEAT 171
DEAD BEASTS WALKING 197
Epilogue 223
Acknowledgments 227
Notes 229
Index 247
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ILLUSTRATIONS
1 Harlan’s ground sloth xiii
2 Saber-toothed cat xiv
3 World of Giants map xvii
4 Guy Robinson 5
5 Paul Martin 19
6 Map of Pleistocene expansion of human populations 22
7 Graph of atmospheric carbon dioxide fl uctuations during
the Pleistocene 23
8 Honey locust tree 29
9 Dan Fisher 38
10 Owosso mastodon 38
11 Elephant trails during drought, Hwange National Park 42
12 Mopane trees broken by foraging elephants 60
13 Clovis spearpoint from Murray Springs, Arizona 66
14 Columbian mammoth skeleton 66
15 Diprotodon skeleton 82
16 Th ylacoleo carnifex skeleton 85
17 Skulls of modern and extinct short-faced
kangaroos 86
18 David Bowman 98
19 Tom and Cyrus Rostron 98
20 Yellowstone wolves hunting elk 117
21 Pronghorn antelope 120
22 African cheetah 133
23 Cougar 136