The Call of Distant Mammoths: Why The Ice Age Mammals Disappeared

261 Pages·1998·7.94 MB·English

by  Peter D. Ward

PETER D.WARD
THE CALL OF
DISTANT
MAMMOTHS
Why the Ice Age
Mammals Disappeared
c
C O P E R N I C US
AN IMPRINT OF SPRINGER-VERLAG
© 1997 Peter D. Ward
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of the publisher.
First softcover printing 1998.
Published in the United States by Copernicus,
an imprint of Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
Copernicus
Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ward, Peter Douglas, 1949-
The call of distant mammoths : why the ice age mammals disappeared / Peter
Douglas Ward,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-387-98572-7 (softcover : alk. paper)
1. Mastodon. 2. Extinction (Biology) 1. Title.
QE882.P8W37 1997
569'.67—DC21 96-48690
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Printed on acid-free paper.
Designed by Irmgard Lochner.
Cover illustration by Alexis Rockman.
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN 0-387-98572-7 SPIN 10682969
For Chris, Nicholas, and the new one.

Acknowledgments
I would like to thank many people who helped in the writing and
production of this book. Three stand out: Jerry Lyons and Bill Frucht,
who showed me what really good editors can and should do; and Don
Grayson, scientist and scholar. Grayson has defined the debate about
overkill and given it meaning and substance. I would also like to thank
the excellent production staff at Springer-Verlag, especially Vicky
Evarretta.
I apologize for the errors which probably will be found and hope that
the imperfections of the writer are no greater than those of the fos
sil record.
Peter D. Ward
Department of Geological Sciences
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington
vii

Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Prologue: The Elephants' Graveyard xi
1 The Time Machine 1
2 Heart of Darkness 24
3 When Worlds Collide 48
4 The Once and Future Kingdoms 68
5 Wheel of Fortune 88
6 The Hunger 118
7 The Kill Curve 166
8 The Lost World 192
9 Nevermore 202
10 The Smoking Gun 215
Afterword: 3001 221
References 225
Index 231
ix
SKULL OF SABER-TOOTHED TIGER, TOOTH OF MAMMOTH AND HORSE:
ALL ICE-AGE "MEGAMAMMALS."
P r o l o g u e:
T he
E l e p h a n t s7
G r a v e y a rd
THERE IS A TALE TOLD to our children about a place deep in the jungle,
where elephants go when they are ready to die. This place is called the Ele
phant's Graveyard, and the story makes death seem dignified and peaceful.
A gentle fairy tale, but is there a grain of truth involved?
Elephant graveyards do exist. However, the real ones are not roman
tic, nor are the deaths occurring there in any way gentle. Some of these
graveyards are in the African and Asian jungles, or in the East and South
African dry lands where the last elephants live wild today, and where ele
phants do die, sometimes in large numbers, due to drought, starvation, or
human poaching and predation.
XI