Direction of Rolling Wave of Mammoth Extinction: A Test for Human Overkill vs. Climatic Change Theories

9321404古特里这项研究将检验两种相互竞争的理论，这两种理论解释了大约11,000年前大型哺乳动物的大灭绝。 近80%的美洲大型哺乳动物物种在相当短的时间内消失。 人类过度捕杀理论认为，古印第安大型哺乳动物猎人从亚洲迅速扩张到美洲，过度开发他们的猎物物种。 另一种理论认为，更新世末期的一次彻底的生态转变产生了如此大的生物扰动，以至于许多物种无法以足够快的速度适应。 一项新的测试将研究羊毛猛犸灭绝的地理模式，其规模要小得多，这是以前尝试过的。 阿拉斯加和育空地区是本研究的重点，因为它们是新旧世界之间的重要地理联系。 该项目是北极系统科学计划（ARCSS）的古组成部分的一部分。 ARCSS是美国全球变化研究计划的一部分。 ***

9321404 Guthrie This study will examine two contending theories which account for the tremendous extinction of large mammals about 11,000 years ago. Nearly 80% of the American large mammal species were lost over a rather short period of time. The human overkill theory argues that Paleoindian large-mammal hunters from Asia expanded rapidly into the Americas, overexploiting their prey species. The other theory proposes that a radical ecological shift at the end of the Pleistocene produced such biotic perturbations that many species could not adapt with sufficient rapidity. A new test will examine the geographic pattern of woolly mammoth extinction of a much finer scale that has been attempted previously. Alaska and the Yukon Territory are the focus of this study because they were a critical geographic link between the Old and New World. This project is part of the paleo component of the Arctic System Science (ARCSS) Program. ARCSS is part of the U.S. Global Change Research Program. ***