Journey through the Pliocene and Pleistocene with us. An era spanning 5.3 million to 11,700 years ago. | Houston Museum of Natural Science

At the end of the Pleistocene, Earth was ruled by formidable megafauna... dire wolves, giant cave bears, predators that shaped daily survival for early human cultures. The world was vastly different, and so were the pressures on life. Late Pleistocene extinctions struck unevenly across regions: South America lost 80% of its large mammal genera, Australia nearly all of them. When habitat collapses, the largest creatures suffer first...long gestation, high food demands, and slow maturation become

Earth’s history includes five major mass extinctions, with up to 95% of species lost in events driven by impacts, volcanic eruptions, or potentially solar outbursts. The terminal Pleistocene extinction, though not part of the “Great Five,” saw the disappearance of North America’s megafauna, focusing on top predators and large mammals. | The Randall Carlson

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