North American Near Time Extinctions

(Megafaunal Extinctions)

North American Extinctions

• American horses, (Equus, three to five species) (H)

• Yukon wild ass (Equus lambei) (H)• California tapirs (Tapirus californicus and Tapirus

merriami) (H)• Vero tapir (Tapirus veroensis) (H)• Western camel (Camelops hesternus) (H)• North American llamas (Hemiauchenia)(H)• Deer (Cervidae, two genera) (H)

North American Extinctions

• Pronghorn (Antilocapridae, two genera, one survived) (H)

• Stag-moose (Cervalces scotti) (H)• Shrub-ox and Harlan's muskox (the Arctic Muskox

survived) (H)• Ancient Bison (Bison antiquus) (H)• Long-horned bison / Giant bison (Bison latifrons) (H)• Giant Beaver (Castoroides, two species) (H)• Saiga (Saiga tatarica) (H)• Teratorns (C)

North American Extinctions• Pinckney's Capybara (Neochoerus pinckneyi) (H)• Eremotherium and Nothrotheriops, megatheriid ground sloths (H)• Megalonyx, a megalonychid ground sloth (H)• Paramylodon, a mylodontid ground sloth (H)• Glyptodonts (H)• Pampatheres (H)• Short-faced Bear (Arctodus simus, larger than the present Grizzly

Bear) (C)• Florida Cave Bear (Tremarctos floridanus) (C)• Saber-toothed cat (Smilodon fatalis) (C)• Scimitar cat (Homotherium serum) (C)

North American Extinctions• Giant polar bear (Ursus maritimus tyrannus, it is possible that this

giant relative of the modern polar bear lived in North America) (C)

• American lion (Panthera leo atrox, larger than the current African Lion but probably a fairly recent immigrant through Beringia) (C)

• American cheetah (Miracinonyx, not a true cheetah, possibly ancestral) (C)

• Dire wolf (Canis dirus) (C)• Mammoth (Mammuthus), several species (H)• American mastodon (Mammut americanum) (H)• Flat-headed (Platygonus) & Long-nosed (Mylohyus) peccaries (H)

Surviving Megafauna• bison (H), • moose (H) (a late Pleistocene immigrant through Beringia), • elk(H), • grey wolf (C), • caribou (H), • grizzly bear (C), • American black bear• deer (H), • pronghorn (H), • muskox (H), • bighorn sheep (H), • and mountain goat (H

All surviving North American megafauna, except for the pronghorn, were immigrants from Eurasia. All of them except for the pronghorn evolved with human predators.