Editing Mastodon (section)

== Extinction ==
[[File:United States megafauna human SPDs.webp|thumb|left|Summed probability distributions (SPDs) of ''[[Mammuthus]]'', ''Mammut'', ''[[Nothrotheriops]]'', ''[[Equus (genus)|Equus]]'', ''[[Smilodon]]'', and humans in the latest Pleistocene of the United States]]
''Mammut'', or more specifically the American mastodon, experienced an initial decline in geographical range when it was extirpated from the northernmost ranges of North America ~75,000 years ago. ''Mammut'' initially occupied the region during the [[Last Interglacial]] (~125,000-75,000 years ago) back when suitable forested habitats were present there but was subsequently extirpated in correlation with environmental changes from the [[Wisconsin glaciation]] (MIS 4). The local extirpation, occurring long before human arrival, caused the mastodon range to be limited to areas south of North American ice sheets. The steppe-tundra faunas thrived there during the event whereas boreal forest-adapted faunas underwent declines.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Zazula|first1=Grant D.|last2=MacPhee|first2=Ross|last3=Metcalfe|first3=Jessica|last4=Reyes|first4=Alberto V.|last5=Brock|first5=Fiona|last6=Druckenmiller|first6=Patrick S.|last7=Groves|first7=Pamela|last8=Harington|first8=C. Richard|last9=Hodgins|first9=Gregory|last10=Kunz|first10=Michael L.|last11=Longstaffe|first11=Fred John|last12=Mann|first12=Dan|last13=McDonald|first13=H. Gregory|year=2014|title=American mastodon extirpation in the Arctic and Subarctic predates human colonization and terminal Pleistocene climate change|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=111|issue=52|pages=18460–18465 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1416072111|doi-access=free |pmid=25453065 |pmc=4284604|bibcode=2014PNAS..11118460Z }}</ref><ref name="arctic"/> The trend of recolonization and extirpation appears to have had been a recurring trend in the Pleistocene correlated with repeated returns of forests and wetlands, but what is unclear is why faunas that were able to repeatedly recolonize northern North America during previous interglacial periods were unable to do so again after the [[Last Glacial Maximum]].<ref name="genomes"/>

The latest Pleistocene of North America records a [[Late Pleistocene extinctions|large extinction phase]] that resulted in the disappearances of over 30 genera of mammals, the majority of which are considered "megafauna" (~{{cvt|45|kg}} or larger). ''Mammut'' was one of the many genera recorded within North America whose extinction causes are currently unresolved.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Meltzer|first=David J.|year=2020|title=Overkill, glacial history, and the extinction of North America's Ice Age megafauna|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=117|issue=46|pages=28555–28563|doi=10.1073/pnas.2015032117|doi-access=free |pmid=33168739 |pmc=7682371|bibcode=2020PNAS..11728555M }}</ref> During the latest Pleistocene of North America, two major events occurred: the development of Clovis culture from 13,200 to 12,800 years ago and the onset of the [[Younger Dryas]] cold phase from 12,900 to 11,700 years ago.<ref name="stuart">{{cite book|last=Stuart|first=Anthony J.|title=Vanished Giants: The Lost World of the Ice Age|chapter=Chapter 6. North America: mastodon, ground sloths, and sabertooth cats|date=August 20, 2022 |publisher=University of Chicago Press|pages=67–112 |isbn=978-0-226-82403-1}}</ref> The extinctions of mammalian megafauna in North America are particularly high akin to those of South America and Australia rather than Eurasia and Africa.<ref name="debate">{{cite journal|last1=Koch|first1=Paul L.|last2=Barnosky|first2=Anthony D.|year=2006|title=Late Quaternary Extinctions: State of the Debate|journal=Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics|volume=37|pages=215–250|doi=10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.34.011802.132415}}</ref> As a result, the extinctions that occurred in the latest Pleistocene of North America have been mainly attributed to human hunting, climate change, or some combination of the two (there are alternate but lesser-supported hypotheses). Many researchers have struggled to explained the North American extinctions, with both human hunting and climate change explanations alone being challenged.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Scott|first=Eric|year=2010|title=Extinctions, scenarios, and assumptions: Changes in latest Pleistocene large herbivore abundance and distribution in western North America|journal=Quaternary International|volume=217|issue=1–2|pages=225–239|doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2009.11.003|bibcode=2010QuInt.217..225S }}</ref> In recent years, research has shifted towards studying the extinctions of North American faunas by individual taxon and/or region rather as a homogenous group. The results vary in regions such as the northeast, with some authors suggesting that there was minimal evidence for Clovis hunting being the major factor behind proboscidean population drops and some others arguing that environmental shifts prior to human arrival were not detrimental enough to the proboscideans.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Boulanger|first1=Matthew T.|last2=Lyman|first2=R. Lee|year=2014|title=Northeastern North American Pleistocene megafauna chronologically overlapped minimally with Paleoindians|journal=Quaternary Science Reviews|volume=85|pages=35–46|doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.11.024|bibcode=2014QSRv...85...35B }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Feranec|first1=Robert S.|last2=Kozlowski|first2=Andrew|year=2016|title=Implications of a Bayesian radiocarbon calibration of colonization ages for mammalian megafauna in glaciated New York State after the Last Glacial Maximum|journal=Quaternary Research|volume=85|issue=2|pages=262–270|doi=10.1016/j.yqres.2016.01.003|bibcode=2016QuRes..85..262F }}</ref>

Paul L. Koch and Anthony D. Barnosky in 2006 suggested that ''Mammuthus'' was well-associated with archeological sites of North America. In comparison, ''Mammut'' and the peccary ''[[Platygonus]]'' were far less frequently associated with human sites, potentially suggesting that Paleoindians hunted them less than mammoths. They stated that the current understanding of ''Mammut'' associations with humans could shift if the supposed butchery sites were better understood while that of ''Platygonus'' is stable and therefore unlikely to change.<ref name="debate"/> In 2018, Jack M. Broughton and Elic M. Weitzel calculated populated dynamics of some of the North American late Pleistocene megafauna based on summed probability distributions (SPDs) using calibrated [[radiocarbon date]]s. They determined based on the data that the declines of ''Mammuthus'', ''Equus'', and ''Smilodon'' were correlated with Clovis culture hunting while ''Mammut'' and the [[nothrotheriid]] ground sloth ''[[Nothrotheriops]]'' did not exhibit any significant population bust until after Clovis culture and during the Younger Dryas at ~12,650 years ago. They concluded that the declines of megafauna are of mixed causes and that the extinction processes and causes therefore vary by individual taxon and region.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Broughton|first1=Jack M.|last2=Weitzel|first2=Elic M.|year=2018|title=Population reconstructions for humans and megafauna suggest mixed causes for North American Pleistocene extinctions|journal=Nature Communications|volume=9|number=5441|page=5441 |doi=10.1038/s41467-018-07897-1|pmid=30575758 |pmc=6303330|bibcode=2018NatCo...9.5441B }}</ref>

Of note is that there is a recorded latest survival of the American mastodon in the early [[Holocene]]. The Overmyer Mastodon individual, recovered from northern Indiana with 41-48% complete remains recovered, exhibits no evidence of weathering or gnawing by other animals. The individual dates from 11,795 to 11,345 years Before Present for a median of 11,576 calibrated years BP, therefore having a secure calibrated radiocarbon date dating to the early Holocene unlike most other extinct North American genera of the terminal Pleistocene. Neal Woodman and Nancy Beavan Athfield stressed that although the early Holocene survival of the species does not eliminate the possibilities that Clovis hunters and/or Younger Dryas impacted their populations in the long term, its survival meant that the genus was not immediately brought to extinction by either factor.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Woodman|first1=Neal Woodman|last2=Athfield|first2=Nancy Beavan|year=2009|title=Post-Clovis survival of American Mastodon in the southern Great Lakes Region of North America|journal=Quaternary Research|volume=72|issue=3|pages=359–363|doi=10.1016/j.yqres.2009.06.009|bibcode=2009QuRes..72..359W }}</ref><ref name="stuart"/>