Most of these idiots suggest hunters killed off all the mega-fauna. Utterly nonsense. It’s incredible the human race barely survived the short face bear alone.
The number of isolated ecosystems that had a massive extinction event shortly after humans arrived is quite amazing: Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar, etc.
The Americas would of course be by far the largest, and it’s always seemed a little illogical to me that pre-technological humans could accomplish such a massive extinction, but there is considerable evidence of a connection.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_extinction_event
Most of these megafauna had been around for one or two million years, including multiple glacial/interglacial cycles, then all disappeared within a short time after humans appeared in the area.
Obviously there are other explanations put forward, and the chronology might not be as tight as sometimes portrayed, but it is an amazing coincidence.
A fascinating conundrum.
My personal favorite part of the notion is that it makes the Indians responsible for a very large mass extinction.
“It’s incredible the human race barely survived the short face bear alone.”
There was a great article here on FR years ago about the theory of Saber Tooth cats using the Bering Strait land bridge as a feeding ground.
That would make for a good movie.