Extinctions in Near Time

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

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2. Cretaceous Meteor Showers, the Human Ecological “Niche,” and the Sixth Extinction

   • Niles Eldredge

   Pages 1-15

3. Prehistoric Extinctions on Islands and Continents

   • Paul S. Martin, David W. Steadman

   Pages 17-55

4. The Interaction of Humans, Megaherbivores, and Habitats in the Late Pleistocene Extinction Event

   • Norman Owen-Smith

   Pages 57-69

5. The Power of Pleistocene Hunter-Gatherers

   • Gary Haynes, B. Sunday Eiselt

   Pages 71-93

6. A Comparison of Methods for the Probabilistic Determination of Vertebrate Extinction Chronologies

   • Donald A. Mcfarlane

   Pages 95-103

7. Putting North America’s End-Pleistocene Megafaunal Extinction in Context

   • John Alroy

   Pages 105-143

8. Rates, Patterns, and Processes of Landscape Transformation and Extinction in Madagascar

   • David A. Burney

   Pages 145-164

9. Extinctions and Local Disappearances of Vertebrates in the Western Mediterranean Islands

   • Josep Antoni Alcover, Bartomeu Seguí, Pere Bover

   Pages 165-188

10. Introduced Predators and Avifaunal Extinction in New Zealand

    • Richard N. Holdaway

    Pages 189-238

11. Late Quaternary Extinctions in Australasia

    • T. F. Flannery, R. G. Roberts

    Pages 239-255

12. Late Pleistocene Megafaunal Extinctions

    • Anthony John Stuart

    Pages 257-269

13. The Quiet Crisis

    • Ian J. Harrison, Melanie L. J. Stiassny

    Pages 271-331

14. Requiem Æternam

    • R. D. E. MacPhee, Clare Flemming

    Pages 333-371

15. Back Matter

    Pages 373-394

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"Near time" -an interval that spans the last 100,000 years or so of earth history-qualifies as a remarkable period for many reasons. From an anthropocentric point of view, the out­ standing feature of near time is the fact that the evolution, cultural diversification, and glob­ al spread of Homo sapiens have all occurred within it. From a wider biological perspective, however, the hallmark of near time is better conceived of as being one of enduring, repeat­ ed loss. The point is important. Despite the sense of uniqueness implicit in phrases like "the biodiversity crisis," meant to convey the notion that the present bout of extinctions is by far the worst endured in recent times, substantial losses have occurred throughout near time. In the majority of cases, these losses occurred when, and only when, people began to ex­ pand across areas that had never before experienced their presence. Although the explana­ tion for these correlations in time and space may seem obvious, it is one thing to rhetori­ cally observe that there is a connection between humans and recent extinctions, and quite another to demonstrate it scientifically. How should this be done? Traditionally, the study of past extinctions has fallen largely to researchers steeped in such disciplines as paleontology, systematics, and paleoecology. The evaluation of future losses, by contrast, has lain almost exclusively within the domain of conservation biolo­ gists. Now, more than ever, there is opportunity for overlap and sharing of information.

• Homo sapiens
• Mammoth
• Vor- und Frühgeschichte
• biodiversity
• landscape

`This book is a must-read if you have any curiosity, fascination, or professional interest in extinctions of the past or present. If you are among those concerned about our environment and the fact that we are losing more animal species each year, you should read this book.'
Discovering Archaeology, 1:5 (1999)

• Department of Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA

  Ross D. E. MacPhee

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