Nature Communications (Jun 2020)
Rapid range shifts and megafaunal extinctions associated with late Pleistocene climate change
- Frederik V. Seersholm,
- Daniel J. Werndly,
- Alicia Grealy,
- Taryn Johnson,
- Erin M. Keenan Early,
- Ernest L. Lundelius,
- Barbara Winsborough,
- Grayal Earle Farr,
- Rickard Toomey,
- Anders J. Hansen,
- Beth Shapiro,
- Michael R. Waters,
- Gregory McDonald,
- Anna Linderholm,
- Thomas W. Stafford,
- Michael Bunce
Affiliations
- Frederik V. Seersholm
- Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University
- Daniel J. Werndly
- Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University
- Alicia Grealy
- Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University
- Taryn Johnson
- Bioarchaeology and Genomics Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University
- Erin M. Keenan Early
- Department of Geosciences, Jackson School of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin
- Ernest L. Lundelius
- Department of Geosciences, Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory, Jackson School of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin
- Barbara Winsborough
- Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas
- Grayal Earle Farr
- Department of Anthropology, Florida State University
- Rickard Toomey
- Mammoth Cave National Park
- Anders J. Hansen
- Centre for GeoGenetics, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen
- Beth Shapiro
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz
- Michael R. Waters
- Center for the Study of the First Americans, Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University
- Gregory McDonald
- Bureau of Land Management, Utah State Office
- Anna Linderholm
- Bioarchaeology and Genomics Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University
- Thomas W. Stafford
- Stafford Research LLC
- Michael Bunce
- Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16502-3
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 11,
no. 1
pp. 1 – 10
Abstract
The impact of late Pleistocene climate change on ecosystems has been hard to assess. Here, the authors sequence ancient DNA from Hall’s Cave, Texas and find that both plant and vertebrate diversity decreased with cooling, and though plant diversity recovered with rewarming, megafauna went extinct.
