SOME FEATURES OF THE TRANSFORMATION OF MAMMAL FAUNAS OF THE PALEARCTIC AND NEARCTIC IN THE TERMINAL CENOZOIC

• Published in: Russian Journal of Ecosystem Ecology
• Main Author: V. N. Kalyakin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: Penza State University Publishing House 2016
• Subjects: large terrestrial herbivores; carnivores; edentates (armadillos and terrestrial sloths); extinction; extermination; primitive hunters; terminal Pliocene; Pleistocene; Holocene; Ecology; QH540-549.5; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.21685/2500-0578-2016-3-1; https://doaj.org/article/125f846c21ee44188461769d1e17f17a

Historical changes in the terminal Cenozoic are analyzed in those mammalian species of the Palearctic and Nearctic that, interacting with soil and vegetation, made possible the pasture ecosystems that were distributed from tropical Africa to some Arctic islands. In addition to large herbivores of pasture ecosystems and carnivores feeding on those herbivores, some of the largest rodents are included in the analysis; in the Nearctic, edentates are also discussed: the specifics of their biology made them readily accessible and therefore very desired game for primitive hunters.