Late Pleistocene
[5] The Late Pleistocene ends with the termination of the Younger Dryas, some 11,700 years ago when the Holocene Epoch began.
[6] The term Upper Pleistocene is currently in use as a provisional or "quasi-formal" designation by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS).
[8] The Riß-Würm ended 115 ka with the onset of the Last Glacial Period (LGP) which is known in Europe as the Würm (Alpine) or Devensian (Great Britain) or Weichselian glaciation (northern Europe); these are broadly equated with the Wisconsin glaciation (North America), though technically that began much later.
The Würm/Weichselian endured until 16 ka with Northern Europe, including most of Great Britain, covered by an ice sheet.
[12] Its present physical geography and climate have changed over time caused by the movement of tectonic plates and volcanoes but glacial cycles and sea level variation have a more significant effect on the vertebrate communities during the Late Pleistocene.
[21] Some examples of species which extinct without replacements include the Straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus), Giant deer (Megaloceros giganteus), cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) and woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis).
[19][24] Magdalenian hunter-gatherers were widespread in western Europe about 20–12.500 cal BP years ago until the end of the Pleistocene.
[27] Climatic conditions during the Late Pleistocene in Eurasia were predominantly cold with glaciation events happening in northern Europe, northwest Siberia and the Alps and interglacials (temperate phase).
The evidence of the changes in climatic conditions was from fragmentary sequences in formerly glaciated areas in northern Europe.
[30] Domestication of other animals such as cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep did not begin until the Holocene when settled farming communities became established in the Near East.
[31] A butchered brown bear patella found in Alice and Gwendoline Cave in County Clare and dated to 10,860 to 10,641 BC indicates the first known human activity in Ireland.
[32] The topography and geography of Asia were subject to frequent changes such as the creation of land bridges when sea levels dropped which helped with the expansion and migration of human populations.
It is believed that the original tribes subsequently moved down to Central and South America under pressure from later migrations.
It is named after the Rancho La Brea fossil site in California, characterized by extinct forms of bison in association with other Pleistocene species such as the mammoth.
[38][39][40]During the Late Pleistocene about 35 genera of megafauna went extinct including species such as mastodons, saber-toothed cats and giant ground sloths.
[43] During this period there was a major cooling event called the Younger Dryas and the Clovis culture of capturing game became more prominent.
[48] In Australia, there are sites which show evidence of pollen records from the Late Pleistocene and they are mostly found in more temperate regions of the continent.
[49] Some megafauna decreased in size over time, while others remained the same; however, the fossil record is limited in the exact chronologies of the extinctions.
