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Horses and Megafauna Extinction

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Fossil Horses of South America

Part of the book series: The Latin American Studies Book Series ((LASBS))

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Abstract

The causes of Late Pleistocene megafauna extinctions remain controversial, with major phases coinciding with both human arrival and major climate change. This event revealed slightly different extinction patterns between areas of South America. In this chapter we evaluate a database of paleontological and archaeological sites with horses. The archaeological data suggest a low archaeological signal ca 14.5 ka BP and increase to a moderate and continuous signal during early Holocene. The data from Pampas and Patagonia region are sufficiently robust to assess synergy interaction among last appearance records of horses, first appearance records of humans, and the Younger Dryas to Holocene climatic transition in South America.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INCUAPA CONICET-UNICEN, Olavarría, Argentina

    José Luis Prado

  2. Departamento de Paleobiología, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), Madrid, Spain

    María Teresa Alberdi

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  1. José Luis Prado
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  2. María Teresa Alberdi
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Correspondence to José Luis Prado .

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Prado, J.L., Alberdi, M.T. (2017). Horses and Megafauna Extinction. In: Fossil Horses of South America. The Latin American Studies Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55877-6_7

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