Late Pleistocene

The Late Pleistocene is a time period from about 129,000 to 11,700 years ago. It is part of the larger Pleistocene Epoch, which falls within the Quaternary Period. This time was very important for Earth and early humans. During the Late Pleistocene, Earth went through big climate changes, including long cold periods called glacials and shorter warm times.

One of the most famous cold times was the Last Glacial Maximum, which happened around 26,000 to 20,000 years ago. During this time, ice covered large parts of the world, and many places were much colder than they are today.

Humans also went through many changes during the Late Pleistocene. Modern humans, known as Homo sapiens, began to move out of Africa and spread to new parts of the world. This was an important time for human history, as people developed new tools and ways of living. Sadly, many large animals that lived on land outside of Africa, such as giant mammals, disappeared during this time. Scientists think that changes in climate and the arrival of humans in new areas may have been reasons for these animals to vanish.

Last Ice Age

The Late Pleistocene began around the end of the Penultimate Glacial Period, when big ice sheets started to shrink. This led to a warmer time called the Eemian interglacial period. After this warm period, the Last Glacial Period began, known as the Würm in the Alps, the Devensian in Great Britain, and the Weichselian glaciation in northern Europe. In North America, this time is called the Wisconsin glaciation.

The coldest part of this icy time was the Last Glacial Maximum, happening between 26,000 and 19,000 years ago. During this time, huge ice sheets covered much of Great Britain and reached as far as the Great Lakes in North America. Sea levels were much lower, creating land bridges such as Doggerland, which linked Great Britain to Europe, and the Bering land bridge, connecting Alaska to Siberia. These land bridges helped people move between continents.

After the coldest time, the climate began to warm up, leading to a period called the Late Glacial Interstadial. However, there was a sudden return to colder weather known as the Younger Dryas. Eventually, the climate warmed again, marking the end of the Pleistocene and the start of a new time called the Holocene. During this whole period, early humans lived by following animal herds and using simple stone and wooden tools.

Africa

The shape of Africa and its weather changed over time because of moving land and volcanoes. But big changes in ice and sea levels had an even bigger effect on animal life during the Late Pleistocene.

Many animals from this time look like the ones we see today. Some big animals, like the giant warthog, long-horn buffalo, and the Southern springbok, disappeared by the end of the Late Pleistocene. These animals lived in places where the plants changed because of the weather. Animals that eat other animals, called carnivores, were found in many different places because they could live in many kinds of homes.

In Egypt, people lived in the Nile Valley as the Sahara turned from grasslands into a desert. We learned about this time from places like Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. These areas have deep caves that helped keep many old bones safe.

Eurasia

Neanderthals, an early type of human, lived in Eurasia until they went extinct between 40 and 30 thousand years ago. They were replaced by modern humans, who originated in East Africa around 195,000 years ago. During this time, many large animal species, such as the Straight-tusked elephant, Giant deer, cave bear, and woolly rhinoceros, also disappeared without new species taking their place.

People from this period created beautiful cave paintings, like those found in Lascaux, France, and Altamira, Spain. These paintings often showed animals such as buffalo and deer. Hunter-gatherers in western Europe made tools from reindeer horn and created early harpoons. The climate was mostly cold, with periods of ice covering parts of northern Europe, Siberia, and the Alps. The dog was the first animal to be domesticated, evolving from the grey wolf around 15,000 years ago. Other animals like cattle and sheep were not domesticated until later.

Far East

The shapes and places in Asia changed often during this time, especially when sea levels went down and created land bridges. These bridges helped people move around and explore new areas. The first people to live in the Japanese islands were there between 40,000 BC and 30,000 BC. Scientists have found old bones that show these people lived around 35,000 BC. In Asia, scientists also found signs of ancient human relatives, including a group called the Denisovans and another called Homo floresiensis.

At one time, Japan was connected to Asia by land bridges through the areas of Hokkaido and Sakhalin Island. But back then, the main islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku were separate from each other.

North America

People moved to North America from Eurasia during this time. Starting around 28,000 years ago, groups traveled across the Bering land bridge from Siberia to Alaska, eventually becoming the Native Americans. These early groups later moved into Central America and South America.

Many large animals, called megafauna, disappeared during this time, including mastodons, saber-toothed cats, and giant ground sloths. Scientists are still discussing what caused these animals to vanish. Some types of bison, like Bison occidentalis and Bison antiquus, survived until about 12,000 to 11,000 years ago and were an important food source for early humans known as the Clovis people.

South America

Many large animals in South and North America disappeared during the Late Pleistocene. Most very big mammals, weighing more than 1,000 kilograms, and many smaller large mammals, weighing more than 40 kilograms, went extinct by the end of this time. This happened along with a major cooling event called the Younger Dryas, and hunters from the Clovis culture became more common. Scientists think changes in the weather, like climate change, might have played a role, but they are still learning exactly why these animals disappeared.

During the Late Pleistocene, people began using more resources from the coast and improved their skills for traveling on water. We do not fully know why these changes happened. Some ideas include the effects of climate change, new groups of people arriving, or increased competition for food and other important things. The time matches a special geologic period for South American animals called the Lujanian, which lasted from 0.8 to 0.11 million years ago and is linked to the late Pleistocene. This period is known as the South American land mammal age.

Oceania

People lived in mainland Australia, Indonesia, New Guinea, and Tasmania as early as about 45,000 years ago. We know this from things they left behind, like rock drawings, stone tools, and marks showing they lived in caves.

In Australia, scientists have found clues from old pollen that help tell us about the climate from this time. Some very large animals changed size over many years, but we still do not fully understand why many of them disappeared around 42,000 years ago.