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late pleistocene extinctions

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Chapter 14 - Paleo-faunas: Rise and Fall of the Biggest Grazers
from Part III - The Big Mammal Menagerie: Herbivores, Carnivores and Their Ecosystem Impacts
Norman Owen-Smith, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Book:

Only in Africa

Published online:

09 September 2021

Print publication:

07 October 2021, pp 220-242
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Summary

This chapter documents the fossil record obtained mainly from rift valley troughs in north-eastern Africa and limestone caves in South Africa. Early Miocene faunas dominated by very large herbivores gave way to the radiation of ruminants during the late Miocene as C4 grasslands spread. Grazing became prominent in all taxa. Modern genera had mostly appeared by the start of the Pleistocene, 2.6 Ma ago. Ungulate diversity declined through the Pleistocene, culminating in extinctions of several large grazers towards the end of this epoch. Large carnivore diversity also became halved. Subspecific diversity in morphology is a feature of some ruminant grazers. Other continents lack Africa’s richness in medium–large grazing ruminants.