SMALL MAMMAL EXTINCTION THROUGH THE PLEISTOCENE IN THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST

The extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna is a hotly debated topic in archaeology and paleontology. Overkill and climate change (and perhaps some combination of the two) are the main hypotheses for the cause of the extinction. Many researchers show that most of the megafauna went extinct before humans came to the New World. In addition to large mammals, some small mammals (rodents, rabbits, etc.) also became extinct. Based on fossil sites in the American Southwest, many small mammal species went extinct over the course of the Pleistocene (most of them before the arrival of humans). This suggests that climate changes between glacial and interglacial periods had a noticeable effect on animal taxa in the Southwest (and on more than just large mammals).