1
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Stegner MA, Hadly EA, Barnosky AD, La Selle S, Sherrod B, Anderson RS, Redondo SA, Viteri MC, Weaver KL, Cundy AB, Gaca P, Rose NL, Yang H, Roberts SL, Hajdas I, Black BA, Spanbauer TL. The Searsville Lake Site (California, USA) as a candidate Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Anthropocene series. Anthropocene Rev 2023; 10:116-145. [PMID: 37213212 PMCID: PMC10193828 DOI: 10.1177/20530196221144098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Cores from Searsville Lake within Stanford University's Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, California, USA, are examined to identify a potential GSSP for the Anthropocene: core JRBP2018-VC01B (944.5 cm-long) and tightly correlated JRBP2018-VC01A (852.5 cm-long). Spanning from 1900 CE ± 3 years to 2018 CE, a secure chronology resolved to the sub-annual level allows detailed exploration of the Holocene-Anthropocene transition. We identify the primary GSSP marker as first appearance of 239,240Pu (372-374 cm) in JRBP2018-VC01B and designate the GSSP depth as the distinct boundary between wet and dry season at 366 cm (6 cm above the first sample containing 239,240Pu) and corresponding to October-December 1948 CE. This is consistent with a lag of 1-2 years between ejection of 239,240Pu into the atmosphere and deposition. Auxiliary markers include: first appearance of 137Cs in 1958; late 20th-century decreases in δ15N; late 20th-century elevation in SCPs, Hg, Pb, and other heavy metals; and changes in abundance and presence of ostracod, algae, rotifer and protozoan microfossils. Fossil pollen document anthropogenic landscape changes related to logging and agriculture. As part of a major university, the Searsville site has long been used for research and education, serves users locally to internationally, and is protected yet accessible for future studies and communication about the Anthropocene. Plain Word Summary The Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the proposed Anthropocene Series/Epoch is suggested to lie in sediments accumulated over the last ~120 years in Searsville Lake, Woodside, California, USA. The site fulfills all of the ideal criteria for defining and placing a GSSP. In addition, the Searsville site is particularly appropriate to mark the onset of the Anthropocene, because it was anthropogenic activities-the damming of a watershed-that created a geologic record that now preserves the very signals that can be used to recognize the Anthropocene worldwide.
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2
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Scott Anderson R, Allison Stegner M, La Selle S, Sherrod B, Barnosky AD, Hadly EA. Witnessing history: comparison of a century of sedimentary and written records in a California protected area. Reg Environ Change 2023; 23:65. [PMID: 37125024 PMCID: PMC10116087 DOI: 10.1007/s10113-023-02056-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Accepted: 03/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
We use a combination of proxy records from a high-resolution analysis of sediments from Searsville Lake and adjacent Upper Lake Marsh and historical records to document over one and a half centuries of vegetation and socio-ecological change-relating to logging, agricultural land use change, dam construction, chemical applications, recreation, and other drivers-on the San Francisco Peninsula. A relatively open vegetation with minimal oak (Quercus) and coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) in the late 1850s reflects widespread logging and grazing during the nineteenth century. Forest and woodland expansion occurred in the early twentieth century, with forests composed of coast redwood and oak, among other taxa, as both logging and grazing declined. Invasive species include those associated with pasturage (Rume x, Plantago), landscape disturbance (Urtica, Amaranthaceae), planting for wood production and wind barriers (Eucalyptus), and agriculture. Agricultural species, including wheat, rye, and corn, were more common in the early twentieth century than subsequently. Wetland and aquatic pollen and fungal spores document a complex hydrological history, often associated with fluctuating water levels, application of algaecides, raising of Searsville Dam, and construction of a levee. By pairing the paleoecological and historical records of both lakes, we have been able to reconstruct the previously undocumented impacts of socio-ecological influences on this drainage, all of which overprinted known climate changes. Recognizing the ecological manifestations of these impacts puts into perspective the extent to which people have interacted with and transformed the environment in the transition into the Anthropocene. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10113-023-02056-9.
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Affiliation(s)
- R. Scott Anderson
- School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ USA
| | - M. Allison Stegner
- Department of Biology and Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, Stanford University, Stanford, CA USA
| | - SeanPaul La Selle
- United States Geological Survey Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Santa Cruz, CA USA
| | - Brian Sherrod
- United States Geological Survey Earthquake Science Center at Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA USA
| | - Anthony D. Barnosky
- Department of Biology and Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, Stanford University, Stanford, CA USA
| | - Elizabeth A. Hadly
- Department of Biology and Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, Stanford University, Stanford, CA USA
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3
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Moleón M, Sánchez-Zapata JA, Donázar JA, Revilla E, Martín-López B, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Getz WM, Morales-Reyes Z, Campos-Arceiz A, Crowder LB, Galetti M, González-Suárez M, He F, Jordano P, Lewison R, Naidoo R, Owen-Smith N, Selva N, Svenning JC, Tella JL, Zarfl C, Jähnig SC, Hayward MW, Faurby S, García N, Barnosky AD, Tockner K. Rethinking megafauna. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20192643. [PMID: 32126954 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Concern for megafauna is increasing among scientists and non-scientists. Many studies have emphasized that megafauna play prominent ecological roles and provide important ecosystem services to humanity. But, what precisely are 'megafauna'? Here, we critically assess the concept of megafauna and propose a goal-oriented framework for megafaunal research. First, we review definitions of megafauna and analyse associated terminology in the scientific literature. Second, we conduct a survey among ecologists and palaeontologists to assess the species traits used to identify and define megafauna. Our review indicates that definitions are highly dependent on the study ecosystem and research question, and primarily rely on ad hoc size-related criteria. Our survey suggests that body size is crucial, but not necessarily sufficient, for addressing the different applications of the term megafauna. Thus, after discussing the pros and cons of existing definitions, we propose an additional approach by defining two function-oriented megafaunal concepts: 'keystone megafauna' and 'functional megafauna', with its variant 'apex megafauna'. Assessing megafauna from a functional perspective could challenge the perception that there may not be a unifying definition of megafauna that can be applied to all eco-evolutionary narratives. In addition, using functional definitions of megafauna could be especially conducive to cross-disciplinary understanding and cooperation, improvement of conservation policy and practice, and strengthening of public perception. As megafaunal research advances, we encourage scientists to unambiguously define how they use the term 'megafauna' and to present the logic underpinning their definition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcos Moleón
- Department of Conservation Biology, Doñana Biological Station-CSIC, Seville, Spain.,Department of Zoology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | | | - José A Donázar
- Department of Conservation Biology, Doñana Biological Station-CSIC, Seville, Spain
| | - Eloy Revilla
- Department of Conservation Biology, Doñana Biological Station-CSIC, Seville, Spain
| | | | - Cayetano Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- FEHM-Lab-IRBIO, Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Wayne M Getz
- Department of ESPM, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.,School of Mathematical Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | | | - Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz
- School of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.,Mindset Interdisciplinary Centre for Environmental Studies, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Larry B Crowder
- Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Standford, CA, USA
| | - Mauro Galetti
- Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil.,Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA
| | - Manuela González-Suárez
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Division, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Fengzhi He
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Germany.,Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Pedro Jordano
- Department of Conservation Biology, Doñana Biological Station-CSIC, Seville, Spain
| | - Rebecca Lewison
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | | | - Norman Owen-Smith
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Nuria Selva
- Institute of Nature Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland
| | - Jens-Christian Svenning
- Section for Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark.,Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World (BIOCHANGE), Department of Bioscience, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - José L Tella
- Department of Conservation Biology, Doñana Biological Station-CSIC, Seville, Spain
| | - Christiane Zarfl
- Center for Applied Geoscience, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Sonja C Jähnig
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Germany
| | - Matt W Hayward
- College of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, UK.,Centre for Wildlife Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.,Centre for African Conservation Ecology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.,School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia
| | - Søren Faurby
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden.,Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Nuria García
- Department of Geodynamics, Stratigraphy and Paleontology, Quaternary Ecosystems, University Complutense of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Anthony D Barnosky
- Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Klement Tockner
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Germany.,Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Austrian Science Fund FWF, Vienna, Austria
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4
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Tian D, Xie Y, Barnosky AD, Wei F. Defining the balance point between conservation and development. Conserv Biol 2019; 33:231-238. [PMID: 30225849 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2018] [Revised: 08/22/2018] [Accepted: 08/28/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
In the face of the current global ecological crisis and the threats it poses to human survival and security, the fundamental solution is to resolve the deep contradiction between conservation and economic development. We considered the 3 key and basic questions of why to protect, how much to protect, and where to protect natural areas. Human survival depends on functioning ecosystems and the ecosystem services they provide. In this regard, conserving core biodiversity conservation priority areas (BCPAs) can provide maximum conservation benefit. The goals of protected area (PA) systems globally and nationally must be clearly defined so as to sustain the survival and development of people and to coordinate and balance other objectives with this goal at the center. There is an urgent need to study, calculate, and define the extent of the natural world to ensure the well-being of people. We call this area over which natural areas of land and sea extend across the world or a country nature proportion (N%). Especially, a minimum area that ensures human survival should be protected, and we suggest that this area should cover core BCPAs so that it can achieve the maximum conservation benefit. These recommendations could be applied at global or national levels. The Chinese government proposes "developing a protected-area system composed mainly of national parks," and it has unified the administration of PAs into a central management authority. At this key time in the reform of the PA system, should this proposal be adopted, conservation will garner the greatest social consensus and support, and planning at the national level for BCPA coverage will be improved. We believe these recommendations are critical for China and other countries and extremely important for the world because they will pave the way toward a balance between nature conservation and human development as the projected human population reaches 10 billion by 2050.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dexin Tian
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100101, Beijing, China
| | - Yan Xie
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100101, Beijing, China
| | - Anthony D Barnosky
- Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94395-5020, U.S.A
| | - Fuwen Wei
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100101, Beijing, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Science, 100049, Beijing, China
- Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 650223, Kunming, China
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5
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Steffen W, Rockström J, Richardson K, Lenton TM, Folke C, Liverman D, Summerhayes CP, Barnosky AD, Cornell SE, Crucifix M, Donges JF, Fetzer I, Lade SJ, Scheffer M, Winkelmann R, Schellnhuber HJ. Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:8252-8259. [PMID: 30082409 PMCID: PMC6099852 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1810141115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 435] [Impact Index Per Article: 72.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
We explore the risk that self-reinforcing feedbacks could push the Earth System toward a planetary threshold that, if crossed, could prevent stabilization of the climate at intermediate temperature rises and cause continued warming on a "Hothouse Earth" pathway even as human emissions are reduced. Crossing the threshold would lead to a much higher global average temperature than any interglacial in the past 1.2 million years and to sea levels significantly higher than at any time in the Holocene. We examine the evidence that such a threshold might exist and where it might be. If the threshold is crossed, the resulting trajectory would likely cause serious disruptions to ecosystems, society, and economies. Collective human action is required to steer the Earth System away from a potential threshold and stabilize it in a habitable interglacial-like state. Such action entails stewardship of the entire Earth System-biosphere, climate, and societies-and could include decarbonization of the global economy, enhancement of biosphere carbon sinks, behavioral changes, technological innovations, new governance arrangements, and transformed social values.
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Affiliation(s)
- Will Steffen
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden;
- Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Johan Rockström
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Katherine Richardson
- Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate, University of Copenhagen, Natural History Museum of Denmark, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Timothy M Lenton
- Earth System Science Group, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, EX4 4QE Exeter, United Kingdom
| | - Carl Folke
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
- The Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, The Royal Swedish Academy of Science, SE-10405 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Diana Liverman
- School of Geography and Development, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
| | - Colin P Summerhayes
- Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge University, CB2 1ER Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Anthony D Barnosky
- Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
| | - Sarah E Cornell
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Michel Crucifix
- Earth and Life Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
- Belgian National Fund of Scientific Research, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Jonathan F Donges
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
- Research Domain Earth System Analysis, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Ingo Fetzer
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Steven J Lade
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
- Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Marten Scheffer
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, 6700AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Ricarda Winkelmann
- Research Domain Earth System Analysis, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Potsdam, 14469 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Hans Joachim Schellnhuber
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden;
- Research Domain Earth System Analysis, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Potsdam, 14469 Potsdam, Germany
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6
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Barnosky AD, Hadly EA, Gonzalez P, Head J, Polly PD, Lawing AM, Eronen JT, Ackerly DD, Alex K, Biber E, Blois J, Brashares J, Ceballos G, Davis E, Dietl GP, Dirzo R, Doremus H, Fortelius M, Greene HW, Hellmann J, Hickler T, Jackson ST, Kemp M, Koch PL, Kremen C, Lindsey EL, Looy C, Marshall CR, Mendenhall C, Mulch A, Mychajliw AM, Nowak C, Ramakrishnan U, Schnitzler J, Das Shrestha K, Solari K, Stegner L, Stegner MA, Stenseth NC, Wake MH, Zhang Z. Merging paleobiology with conservation biology to guide the future of terrestrial ecosystems. Science 2017; 355:355/6325/eaah4787. [DOI: 10.1126/science.aah4787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 201] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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7
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Waters CN, Zalasiewicz J, Summerhayes C, Barnosky AD, Poirier C, Gałuszka A, Cearreta A, Edgeworth M, Ellis EC, Ellis M, Jeandel C, Leinfelder R, McNeill JR, Richter DD, Steffen W, Syvitski J, Vidas D, Wagreich M, Williams M, Zhisheng A, Grinevald J, Odada E, Oreskes N, Wolfe AP. The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene. Science 2016. [PMID: 26744408 DOI: 10.1126/science.aad2622.] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Human activity is leaving a pervasive and persistent signature on Earth. Vigorous debate continues about whether this warrants recognition as a new geologic time unit known as the Anthropocene. We review anthropogenic markers of functional changes in the Earth system through the stratigraphic record. The appearance of manufactured materials in sediments, including aluminum, plastics, and concrete, coincides with global spikes in fallout radionuclides and particulates from fossil fuel combustion. Carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles have been substantially modified over the past century. Rates of sea-level rise and the extent of human perturbation of the climate system exceed Late Holocene changes. Biotic changes include species invasions worldwide and accelerating rates of extinction. These combined signals render the Anthropocene stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene and earlier epochs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin N Waters
- British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
| | - Jan Zalasiewicz
- Department of Geology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Colin Summerhayes
- Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge University, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1ER, UK
| | - Anthony D Barnosky
- Department of Integrative Biology, Museum of Paleontology, and Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Clément Poirier
- Morphodynamique Continentale et Côtière, Université de Caen Normandie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), 24 Rue des Tilleuls, F-14000 Caen, France
| | - Agnieszka Gałuszka
- Geochemistry and the Environment Division, Institute of Chemistry, Jan Kochanowski University, 15G Świętokrzyska Street, 25-406 Kielce, Poland
| | - Alejandro Cearreta
- Departamento de Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Apartado 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain
| | - Matt Edgeworth
- School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Erle C Ellis
- Department of Geography and Environmental Systems, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
| | - Michael Ellis
- British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
| | - Catherine Jeandel
- Laboratoire d'Etudes en Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiales (CNRS, Centre National d'Études Spatiales, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Université Paul Sabatier), 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France
| | - Reinhold Leinfelder
- Department of Geological Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Malteserstraße 74-100/D, 12249 Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Daniel deB Richter
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Box 90233, Durham, NC 27516, USA
| | - Will Steffen
- The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia
| | - James Syvitski
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado-Boulder, Box 545, Boulder, CO 80309-0545, USA
| | - Davor Vidas
- Marine Affairs and Law of the Sea Programme, The Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Lysaker, Norway
| | - Michael Wagreich
- Department of Geodynamics and Sedimentology, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Mark Williams
- Department of Geology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - An Zhisheng
- State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710061, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Jacques Grinevald
- Institut de Hautes Études Internationales et du Développement, Chemin Eugène Rigot 2, 1211 Genève 11, Switzerland
| | - Eric Odada
- Department of Geology, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Naomi Oreskes
- Department of the History of Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Alexander P Wolfe
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada
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8
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Waters CN, Zalasiewicz J, Summerhayes C, Barnosky AD, Poirier C, Gałuszka A, Cearreta A, Edgeworth M, Ellis EC, Ellis M, Jeandel C, Leinfelder R, McNeill JR, Richter DD, Steffen W, Syvitski J, Vidas D, Wagreich M, Williams M, Zhisheng A, Grinevald J, Odada E, Oreskes N, Wolfe AP. The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene. Science 2016; 351:aad2622. [PMID: 26744408 DOI: 10.1126/science.aad2622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 372] [Impact Index Per Article: 46.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Colin N. Waters
- British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
| | - Jan Zalasiewicz
- Department of Geology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Colin Summerhayes
- Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge University, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1ER, UK
| | - Anthony D. Barnosky
- Department of Integrative Biology, Museum of Paleontology, and Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California–Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Clément Poirier
- Morphodynamique Continentale et Côtière, Université de Caen Normandie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), 24 Rue des Tilleuls, F-14000 Caen, France
| | - Agnieszka Gałuszka
- Geochemistry and the Environment Division, Institute of Chemistry, Jan Kochanowski University, 15G Świętokrzyska Street, 25-406 Kielce, Poland
| | - Alejandro Cearreta
- Departamento de Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Apartado 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain
| | - Matt Edgeworth
- School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Erle C. Ellis
- Department of Geography and Environmental Systems, University of Maryland–Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
| | - Michael Ellis
- British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
| | - Catherine Jeandel
- Laboratoire d’Etudes en Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiales (CNRS, Centre National d'Études Spatiales, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Université Paul Sabatier), 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France
| | - Reinhold Leinfelder
- Department of Geological Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Malteserstraße 74-100/D, 12249 Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Daniel deB. Richter
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Box 90233, Durham, NC 27516, USA
| | - Will Steffen
- The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia
| | - James Syvitski
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado–Boulder, Box 545, Boulder, CO 80309-0545, USA
| | - Davor Vidas
- Marine Affairs and Law of the Sea Programme, The Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Lysaker, Norway
| | - Michael Wagreich
- Department of Geodynamics and Sedimentology, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Mark Williams
- Department of Geology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - An Zhisheng
- State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710061, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Jacques Grinevald
- Institut de Hautes Études Internationales et du Développement, Chemin Eugène Rigot 2, 1211 Genève 11, Switzerland
| | - Eric Odada
- Department of Geology, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Naomi Oreskes
- Department of the History of Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Alexander P. Wolfe
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada
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9
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Ceballos G, Ehrlich PR, Barnosky AD, García A, Pringle RM, Palmer TM. Accelerated modern human-induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction. Sci Adv 2015; 1:e1400253. [PMID: 26601195 PMCID: PMC4640606 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1400253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1137] [Impact Index Per Article: 126.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2014] [Accepted: 05/01/2015] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
The oft-repeated claim that Earth's biota is entering a sixth "mass extinction" depends on clearly demonstrating that current extinction rates are far above the "background" rates prevailing between the five previous mass extinctions. Earlier estimates of extinction rates have been criticized for using assumptions that might overestimate the severity of the extinction crisis. We assess, using extremely conservative assumptions, whether human activities are causing a mass extinction. First, we use a recent estimate of a background rate of 2 mammal extinctions per 10,000 species per 100 years (that is, 2 E/MSY), which is twice as high as widely used previous estimates. We then compare this rate with the current rate of mammal and vertebrate extinctions. The latter is conservatively low because listing a species as extinct requires meeting stringent criteria. Even under our assumptions, which would tend to minimize evidence of an incipient mass extinction, the average rate of vertebrate species loss over the last century is up to 100 times higher than the background rate. Under the 2 E/MSY background rate, the number of species that have gone extinct in the last century would have taken, depending on the vertebrate taxon, between 800 and 10,000 years to disappear. These estimates reveal an exceptionally rapid loss of biodiversity over the last few centuries, indicating that a sixth mass extinction is already under way. Averting a dramatic decay of biodiversity and the subsequent loss of ecosystem services is still possible through intensified conservation efforts, but that window of opportunity is rapidly closing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerardo Ceballos
- Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México D.F. 04510, México
- Corresponding author. E-mail:
| | - Paul R. Ehrlich
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94304, USA
| | - Anthony D. Barnosky
- Department of Integrative Biology and Museums of Paleontology and Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720–3140, USA
| | - Andrés García
- Estación de Biología Chamela, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Jalisco 48980, México
| | - Robert M. Pringle
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Todd M. Palmer
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611–8525, USA
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Abstract
AbstractPalaeontology formed the basis for defining most of the geological eras, periods, epochs and ages that are commonly recognized. By the same token, the Anthropocene can be defined by diverse palaeontological criteria, in accordance with commonly accepted biostratigraphic practice. The most useful Anthropocene biostratigraphic zones will be assemblage and abundance zones based on mixes of native and non-native species in both the marine and terrestrial realms, although lineage zones based on evolution of crop plants may also have utility. Also useful are human-produced trace fossils, which have resulted in prominent biohorizons that can mark the onset of the Anthropocene, especially the paved road system, widespread through terrestrial regions, and microplastics, ubiquitous in near-shore and deep-water marine sediments. Most of these palaeontological criteria support placing the Holocene–Anthropocene boundary near 1950. Continuation of current extinction rates would produce an extinction biohorizon on the scale of the Big Five mass extinctions within a few centuries, but enhanced conservation measures could prevent making mass extinction an Anthropocene signature. A grand challenge for palaeontologists now is to define Anthropocene biostratigraphic zones rigorously, not only as a necessary precursor to formalizing the epoch, but also to more fully understand how humans have restructured the biosphere.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony D. Barnosky
- Department of Integrative Biology and Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA (e-mail: )
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Barnosky AD, Matzke N, Tomiya S, Wogan GOU, Swartz B, Quental TB, Marshall C, McGuire JL, Lindsey EL, Maguire KC, Mersey B, Ferrer EA. Has the Earth's sixth mass extinction already arrived? Nature 2011; 471:51-7. [PMID: 21368823 DOI: 10.1038/nature09678] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1293] [Impact Index Per Article: 99.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Palaeontologists characterize mass extinctions as times when the Earth loses more than three-quarters of its species in a geologically short interval, as has happened only five times in the past 540 million years or so. Biologists now suggest that a sixth mass extinction may be under way, given the known species losses over the past few centuries and millennia. Here we review how differences between fossil and modern data and the addition of recently available palaeontological information influence our understanding of the current extinction crisis. Our results confirm that current extinction rates are higher than would be expected from the fossil record, highlighting the need for effective conservation measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony D Barnosky
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
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Carrasco MA, Barnosky AD, Graham RW. Quantifying the extent of North American mammal extinction relative to the pre-anthropogenic baseline. PLoS One 2009; 4:e8331. [PMID: 20016820 PMCID: PMC2789409 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2009] [Accepted: 11/19/2009] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Earth has experienced five major extinction events in the past 450 million years. Many scientists suggest we are now witnessing a sixth, driven by human impacts. However, it has been difficult to quantify the real extent of the current extinction episode, either for a given taxonomic group at the continental scale or for the worldwide biota, largely because comparisons of pre-anthropogenic and anthropogenic biodiversity baselines have been unavailable. Here, we compute those baselines for mammals of temperate North America, using a sampling-standardized rich fossil record to reconstruct species-area relationships for a series of time slices ranging from 30 million to 500 years ago. We show that shortly after humans first arrived in North America, mammalian diversity dropped to become at least 15%–42% too low compared to the “normal” diversity baseline that had existed for millions of years. While the Holocene reduction in North American mammal diversity has long been recognized qualitatively, our results provide a quantitative measure that clarifies how significant the diversity reduction actually was. If mass extinctions are defined as loss of at least 75% of species on a global scale, our data suggest that North American mammals had already progressed one-fifth to more than halfway (depending on biogeographic province) towards that benchmark, even before industrialized society began to affect them. Data currently are not available to make similar quantitative estimates for other continents, but qualitative declines in Holocene mammal diversity are also widely recognized in South America, Eurasia, and Australia. Extending our methodology to mammals in these areas, as well as to other taxa where possible, would provide a reasonable way to assess the magnitude of global extinction, the biodiversity impact of extinctions of currently threatened species, and the efficacy of conservation efforts into the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc A Carrasco
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA.
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14
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul L. Koch
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064;
| | - Anthony D. Barnosky
- Department of Integrative Biology and Museums of Paleontology and Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California 74720;
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Abstract
Estimates of paleodiversity patterns through time have relied on datasets that lump taxonomic occurrences from geographic areas of varying size per interval of time. In essence, such estimates assume that the species-area effect, whereby more species are recorded from larger geographic areas, is negligible for fossil data. We tested this assumption by using the newly developed Miocene Mammal Mapping Project database of western North American fossil mammals and its associated analysis tools to empirically determine the geographic area that contributed to species diversity counts in successive temporal bins. The results indicate that a species-area effect markedly influences counts of fossil species, just as variable spatial sampling influences diversity counts on the modern landscape. Removing this bias suggests some traditionally recognized peaks in paleodiversity are just artifacts of the species-area effect while others stand out as meriting further attention. This discovery means that there is great potential for refining existing time-series estimates of paleodiversity, and for using species-area relationships to more reliably understand the magnitude and timing of such biotically important events as extinction, lineage diversification, and long-term trends in ecological structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony D Barnosky
- Department of Integrative Biology and Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA.
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Abstract
One of the great debates about extinction is whether humans or climatic change caused the demise of the Pleistocene megafauna. Evidence from paleontology, climatology, archaeology, and ecology now supports the idea that humans contributed to extinction on some continents, but human hunting was not solely responsible for the pattern of extinction everywhere. Instead, evidence suggests that the intersection of human impacts with pronounced climatic change drove the precise timing and geography of extinction in the Northern Hemisphere. The story from the Southern Hemisphere is still unfolding. New evidence from Australia supports the view that humans helped cause extinctions there, but the correlation with climate is weak or contested. Firmer chronologies, more realistic ecological models, and regional paleoecological insights still are needed to understand details of the worldwide extinction pattern and the population dynamics of the species involved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony D Barnosky
- Department of Integrative Biology and Museums of Paleontology and Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
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Barnosky AD, Bell CJ, Emslie SD, Goodwin HT, Mead JI, Repenning CA, Scott E, Shabel AB. Exceptional record of mid-Pleistocene vertebrates helps differentiate climatic from anthropogenic ecosystem perturbations. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2004; 101:9297-302. [PMID: 15197254 PMCID: PMC438971 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0402592101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2003] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Mid-Pleistocene vertebrates in North America are scarce but important for recognizing the ecological effects of climatic change in the absence of humans. We report on a uniquely rich mid-Pleistocene vertebrate sequence from Porcupine Cave, Colorado, which records at least 127 species and the earliest appearances of 30 mammals and birds. By analyzing >20,000 mammal fossils in relation to modern species and independent climatic proxies, we determined how mammal communities reacted to presumed glacial-interglacial transitions between 1,000,000 and 600,000 years ago. We conclude that climatic warming primarily affected mammals of lower trophic and size categories, in contrast to documented human impacts on higher trophic and size categories historically. Despite changes in species composition and minor changes in small-mammal species richness evident at times of climatic change, overall structural stability of mammal communities persisted >600,000 years before human impacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony D Barnosky
- Museum of Paleontology and Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, 94720, USA.
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Barnosky AD, Bell CJ. Evolution, climatic change and species boundaries: perspectives from tracing Lemmiscus curtatus populations through time and space. Proc Biol Sci 2004; 270:2585-90. [PMID: 14728781 PMCID: PMC1691544 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2003.2543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
To provide empirical evidence of species boundaries and the role of climatic change in affecting evolution, we documented evolution of the sagebrush vole, Lemmiscus curtatus, through hundreds of thousands of years by following populations from the middle Pleistocene to the present. We found that: (i) extant representatives of the species culminate a morphological transition that was initiated within an unusually arid and warm interglacial period, perhaps related to the shift from glacial-interglacial cycles dominated by a 41,000 year periodicity to those dominated by a 100,000 year rhythm; and (ii) sympatry of extant and extinct morphotypes persisted for more than 800,000 years. This exceptionally detailed tracing of extinct populations into extant ones suggests that species such as the one we studied are real entities in space, that their boundaries become fuzzy (although potentially diagnosable) through time and that unusual climatic warming may initiate significant evolutionary change manifested at the morphological level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony D Barnosky
- Museum of Paleontology and Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
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Graham RW, Lundelius EL, Graham MA, Schroeder EK, Toomey RS, Anderson E, Barnosky AD, Burns JA, Churcher CS, Grayson DK, Guthrie RD, Harington CR, Jefferson GT, Martin LD, McDonald HG, Morlan RE, Semken HA, Webb SD, Werdelin L, Wilson MC. Spatial Response of Mammals to Late Quaternary Environmental Fluctuations. Science 1996; 272:1601-6. [PMID: 8662471 DOI: 10.1126/science.272.5268.1601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 221] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Analyses of fossil mammal faunas from 2945 localities in the United States demonstrate that the geographic ranges of individual species shifted at different times, in different directions, and at different rates in response to late Quaternary environmental fluctuations. The geographic pattern of faunal provinces was similar for the late Pleistocene and late Holocene, but differing environmental gradients resulted in dissimilar species composition for these biogeographic regions. Modern community patterns emerged only in the last few thousand years, and many late Pleistocene communities do not have modern analogs. Faunal heterogeneity was greater in the late Pleistocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- RW Graham
- R. W. Graham, M. A. Graham, E. K. Schroeder, and R. S. Toomey III are at Research and Collections Center, Illinois State Museum, 1011 East Ash, Springfield, IL 62703, USA. E. L. Lundelius Jr., Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, USA. E. Anderson, Denver Museum of Natural History, Denver, CO 80205, USA. A. D. Barnosky, Mountain Research Center, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59715, USA. J. A. Burns, Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5N 0M6. C. S. Churcher, Department of Zoology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A1. D. K. Grayson, Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. R. D. Guthrie, Department of Biology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99701, USA. C. R. Harington, Earth Sciences Section (Paleobiology), Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1P 6P4. G. T. Jefferson, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, 200 Palm Canyon Drive, Borrego Springs, CA 92004, USA. L. D. Martin, Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA. H. G. McDonald, Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Post Office Box 570, Hagerman, ID 83332, USA. R. E. Morlan, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Post Office Box 3100 Station B, Hull, Quebec, Canada J8X 4H2. H. A. Semken Jr., Department of Geology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. S. D. Webb, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. L. Werdelin, Department of Paleozoology, Swedish Museum, Box 50007, S-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden. M. C. Wilson, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6
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Abstract
Fossils of the late Pleistocene elk Megaloceros giganteus from Ballybetagh bog, near Dublin, Ireland, indicate that males segregated from females during winters. The segregation implies seasonal rutting and polygynous mating and is consistent with the idea that large antlers functioned for social display. Within male groups, winterkill was the chief cause of death and was highest among juveniles and small adults with small antlers. There is no evidence to support the popular conception that heavy antlers caused animals to drown or become mired.
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Abstract
The locomotion of proscalopid moles, an extinct group restricted to North America, differed from that of other animals. Analysis of a newly discovered and relatively complete and articulated skeleton shows that the digging technique of proscalopids involved a combination of motions that has not been observed in modern fossorial insectivores. The many anatomical peculiarities of proscalopids are related to their specialized digging technique and justify their assignment to a new family of insectivores, the Proscalopidae.
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