The sudden extinction of large mammals at the end of the Pleistocene epoch has long puzzled paleontologists. While the author of a recent comprehensive study argues that a synergistic combination of human hunting and rapid environmental shifts drove these extinctions, a prominent camp of researchers known as 'climatic determinists' rejects the role of human influence entirely. These determinists contend that the warming trend at the end of the ice age fragmented essential habitats and disrupted established food webs, causing the megafauna populations to collapse long before human hunting could have had a significant impact. Consequently, they maintain that even if early humans had never migrated into these regions, the extinction of these large mammals was an inevitable ecological certainty.
Based on the passage, which of the following claims would the 'climatic determinists' most likely endorse? (Select all that apply)
- Environmental warming led to the fragmentation of habitats that large mammals relied upon for survival.Cevap
- The extinction of Pleistocene megafauna would have occurred even in the complete absence of human migration into their territories.Cevap
- CHuman hunting acted in synergy with climate change to cause the collapse of megafauna populations.
- DEnvironmental shifts are the sole cause of every major extinction event in the paleontological record.
- EThe warming trend at the end of the ice age prevented human hunters from having a significant impact on food webs.