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Climate Effects On Mammalian Body Size And Grassland Composition Inferred From Late Quaternary Grazers In The Great Plains Of North America, Tom Baldvins
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Several mammalian taxa exhibited a diminution during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Two hypotheses have been proposed to explain this phenomenon: (1) human hunting and (2) climate change along with its effects on grasslands. I use stable isotopes from a variety of Quaternary grazing mammals to measure grassland changes following the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in Nebraska and to develop a climate proxy to compare with mammalian body size. Results indicate that latest Pleistocene equids and mammoths have δ13C values indicative of a C3 or mixed C3/C4 diet. However, Holocene bison have greatly elevated δ13 …