Last Survivors:
​The lost mega-fauna of  North America
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Vanished Species:
The Pleistocene world ended 11,000 years ago and a new era arrived in North America. The glaciers were retreating and humans were spreading slowly into new habitats. This section looks at the species the continent lost. Not all became extinct, some like horses and camels survived elsewhere as did lions. The loss to the continent’s wildlife community was devastating however. Ecosystems were altered dramatically and many niches once filled by giant herbivores would never be filled again. Without these giants many of the predators would vanish.

These empty niches did provide opportunities for surviving wildlife and for new arrivals as we will see later in the book. Let’s take one last look at what was lost before continuing our journey towards our own time.

America would be re-wilded after these species disappeared but it would never be quite so varied, so African Serengeti-like as it was when these giants walked this continent.
This section is really about the de-wildling of America and what follows looks at how the wildlife recovered.

​Note: This material is from an unpublished manuscript.

Woolly Mammoth                Columbian Mammoth  
​Mastodon                                   Giant Ground Sloths
​Giant Short-faced Bear      Saber-toothed Cat
​Dire Wolf                                     American Lion