On the Pleistocene Extinctions of Alaskan Mammoths and Horses

The fossil record has been used to shed light on the late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions in North America and elsewhere. It is therefore important to account for variability due to the incompleteness of the fossil record and error in dating fossil remains. Here, a joint confidence region for the...

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Published inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 103; no. 19; pp. 7351 - 7353
Main Authors Solow, Andrew R., Roberts, David L., Robbirt, Karen M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States National Academy of Sciences 09.05.2006
Subjects
Alaska
Animals
Biological Sciences
Carbon Radioisotopes
Estimated taxes
Fossils
Horses
Hunting
Maximum likelihood estimation
Paleobiology
Radiocarbon
Radiocarbon dating
Social dating
Taxa
Time Factors
Alaska
USA, Alaska
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Summary:The fossil record has been used to shed light on the late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions in North America and elsewhere. It is therefore important to account for variability due to the incompleteness of the fossil record and error in dating fossil remains. Here, a joint confidence region for the extinction times of horses and mammoths in Alaska is constructed. The results suggest that a prior claim that the extinction of horses preceded the arrival of humans cannot be made with confidence.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
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Edited by C. Vance Haynes, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, and approved March 17, 2006
Author contributions: D.L.R. and K.M.R. designed research; A.R.S. analyzed data; and A.R.S. wrote the paper.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0509480103