r/pleistocene

The king of the Siberian forests meets the queens of the Siberian steppes. by Julio lacerda

The king of the Siberian forests meets the queens of the Siberian steppes. by Julio lacerda

by Julio lacerda. A Siberian tiger meets a herd of woolly mammoths in the midst of the late Pleistocene

u/who-am-i-here-wow — 9 hours ago

A male Megaloceros giganteus moves through some deep snow somewhere in northern Eurasia sometime during the Pleistocene. Artwork by Andrea Hernández Plazas.

u/Apart_Ambition5764 — 8 hours ago

A notiomastodon platensis calf that got lost from its herd, found a cave that had cave paintings in ( art done by me )

This is supposed to represent a discovery, basically in Serra da Capivara at Piauí, there are multiple cave paintings in, and close by, a notiomastodon calf was found in, I’m not sure if there was found any evidence of butchery.
Pls gimme tips on how I can improve my drawings :)

u/Sufficient-Fee-4568 — 14 hours ago

Smilodon hunting bison by Mauricio Antón.

Hold on, was it ever confirmed that any of the Smilodon species hunted in packs? It makes sense to me that they were coordinated pack hunters, similar to a pride of lions. Maybe this is supposed to be depicting a small coalition of young males patrolling the plains.

But then, a coalition of young males would take over a resident group of females, (or...Smilodonesses?) In order to do that, they would have to kill the dominant male, along with all of his offspring. It sounds gruesome, I know, but that's just how nature works.

No cat has time to be a stepfather, I suppose.

u/yorb134 — 18 hours ago

Nesorhinus philippinensis, the Philippine rhinoceros, inhabited the island of Luzo from the Middle Pleistocene (+700,000 years ago) until probably the Late Pleistocene until about 50,000 years ago ( by me )

Here compared to a Tamaraw (Bubalus mindorensis) the biggest wild land mammal in Luzo , Up to 300kg.

N. philippinensis was similar in size to the modern Javan rhinoceros, weighing just over a ton, but it differed in having a small hump and a more elongated body.

u/Foreign_Pop_4092 — 18 hours ago

The giant tortoise Megalochelys margae of early Pleistocene Sulawesi, Indonesia by Rudolf Hima.

u/Quaternary23 — 21 hours ago

Why modern humans never made artifacts about Neanderthals, Denisovans and Homo naledi?

It seems strange. But am wondering why is that? I mean couldn't they just been impressed by their nature? 🤔

Also any chances of scavenging up such artifacts in future?

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u/SpearTheSurvivor — 14 hours ago

Arctodus simus and Sapiens by seraphimj777

https://www.instagram.com/p/DYeMp0ZkRX4/?igsh=OWI1ajM2b2p6Mmli

Sorry about the last post, there was a bug and it didn't download all the images.

In this representation the artist speaks to us at the beginning, of a theory that the first Native Americans would have taken time to colonize North America because of predators like Arctodus Simus. A theory that is pleased to demystify by referring to an Arctodus bone in your thread would have traces of cut by man. What seems to show that the animal had been consumed by human beings or perhaps even hunt.

u/Hopeful_Lychee_9691 — 1 day ago

Inaccuracies in the game Ecos: La Brea

I'd like to preface this by saying I am not at all versed in paleontology or extinct species, but I am very curious as to what the ROBLOX game Ecos: La Brea gets incorrect in their depictions of an ecosystem surrounding the La Brea tar pits in California. I will also mention this will NOT be discussing the game's playerbase/community and topics or issues surrounding it, besides core knowledge.

For anyone who doesn't know (which I assume is most of you), Ecos: La Brea is a higher-quality game hosted on ROBLOX made by a relatively small team of developers, where you can play as various animals who lived in the La Brea region ~20,000 years ago. The current extinct animals the game depicts are:

- Smilodon fatalis (Saber-toothed cat)

- Aneocyon dirus (Dire wolf)

- Mammuthus columbi (Columbian mammoth)

- Bison antiquus (Ancient bison)

- Equus occidentalis (Western horse)

- Platygonus compressus (Flat-headed peccary)

- Capromeryx minor (Dwarf pronghorn)

- Hydrodamalis gigas (Stellar’s sea cow)

They will also later portray...

- Canis latrans orcutti (Pleistocene coyote)

...for certain, and possibly...

- Miracinonyx trumani (American cheetah)

- Arctodus simus (Giant short-faced bear)

- Breagyps clarki (La Brea condor)

- Paramylodon harlani (Harlan’s ground sloth)

- Ectopistes migratorius (Passenger pigeon)

...in the future.

The game also portrays a few extant species, along with many species of plants and mushrooms in their own ecoregions. The game aims to be educational, including various options to learn about what they are presenting. I am not entirely sure of the developers qualifications, but I don't believe any of them have much, if any professional experience in the field of paleontology. I highly suggest you take a look around the website as they explain themselves more there. https://ecoslabrea.wixsite.com/ecos--la-brea

As far as the portrayals of the animals go, it is mostly limited to physical aspects, with some behavioral aspects. As it is a game where you play as (most) of the animals, you are free to choose how to behave, though lots of people enjoy pretending to behave realistically.

Physically, some of the aspects include:

- Models of the animals; how they were proportioned, everything beyond bones

- Textures of the animals; what their fur and skin would have looked like

- Sounds of the animals

- Movement and articulation of the animals

- Body language of the animals

- "Stats" of the animals; how fast and long could they run for

Behaviorally, some of the aspects include:

- Social dynamic; would they have spent their time alone or in groups

- Hunting behaviors

- Defensive and offensive behaviors

Additionally with behavior, they have a structured group with a private-access server where players can roleplay in a specifically "realistic" way. They have written down many guidelines and rules on how to behave in a way they consider realistic, along with considering the aspects of the game itself and keeping things reasonable. I'm not one to say if the guidelines they provide would truly be considered realistic, but if anyone is interested in seeing them let me know and I can provide them.

Some of the controversies I have heard within the community previously include:

- Realism of the fur textures (called skins). The game includes many "mutation skins" like melanism, erythrism, and leucism, which are sometimes regarded as being unrealistic. The game also includes many variations of the leopard complex for the western horse, which is also occasionally regarded as unrealistic by the community. The developers aim to add lots of variation to the available skins, but try to not go beyond the binds of realism.

- Accuracy of the models. I've seen people mention inaccuracies in the models, primarily the smilodon and the ancient bison. For example, "the smilodon is too lean," is a common one.

- Innacurate taxon. Some species are shown with different scientific names in the game than what seems to be commonly accepted. For example, Bos bison antiquus instead of Bison antiquus, and Equus ferus occidentalis instead of Equus occidentalis.

- Innacurate social structures. Some people believe the smilodon shouldn't have lived in such large groups (their group size is five), while others believe this is an accurate number.

I have never heard any controversies regarding the floral aspects of the game, I assume because not as many people would know if what they're shown is incorrect. I would be very curious to see if anyone here who specializes in plants/mushrooms and the like notices anything incorrect regarding them!

Thank you to anyone for your interest!! I can answer any questions or provide additional information/media about the game in the comments.

TL;DR: I am interested in the inaccuracies of the portrayals of extinct species in the game Ecos: La Brea.

u/LupinWhiskers — 1 day ago

A pride of Smilodon populator / fatalis trying to hunt a juvenile Cuvieronius ( first attempt of doing a paleoart )

Isn’t done yet, but I’m alr very proud of it.
Initially it was supposed to be a notiomastodon, but ig it would make more sense if it was a Cuvieronius.

Please give tips on how I can improve the drawing!

u/Sufficient-Fee-4568 — 1 day ago

Different places of Rodrigues Island!

  1. A forest! Two male solitaires fight with their wing clubs as a trio or rodrigues fruit bats chill in a tree overhead. A rodrigues rail watches the event while enjoying a worm! A Rodrigues day gecko basks on a rock nearby.
  2. Near shore, in a drier area, a lone male giant saddleback tortoise lumbers past a rodrigues orb weaver in it's web.
  3. At night, a rodrigues scops owl rests on a branch looking at the audience as a lesser yellow bat rests on the same branch snacking on a beetle. Oh, and a spider chills in it's web.

This was so hard because the island barely has any known species  😭

Hope y'all like it!

u/chilirasbora_123 — 1 day ago

Which of these ice aged era animals would still be alive today if it wasn’t for hunting by prehistoric humans ?

Woolly Mammoth , Columbian Mammoth , Steppe Mammoth , Woolly Rhino , Jefferson’s Ground Sloth , Harlan’s Ground Sloth , Scimitar Toothed Cat , Saber Tooth Cat - all of them ( Smilodon , and Homotherium ) , Asiatic Straight Tusked Elephant , the giant Glyptodon Armadillo , Stag Moose , Irish Elk , Harrington’s Mountain Goat , Woodland Musk Ox , Shrub OX , Shasta Ground Sloth , Cuvier’s Gomphothere elephant , American Mastodon , Giant Beaver , Dire Wolf , Giant Short Faced Bear , Florida Spectacled Bear , Cave Bear , Cave Hyena , Western Camel , Long Nosed Peccary , Flat Headed Peccary , California Tapir , Ancient Bison , Steppe Bison , Glypotherium Armadillo , Eremotherium ground sloth , Megatherium ground sloth , Mylodon ground sloth , Scelidodon ground sloth , south american Natiomastodon , Giant Capybara , Toxodon , Macrauchenia , Xenorhinotherium , Hippidion Horse , Palaeolama , Hemiauchenia , Narrow Headed Peccary , North African Horse , Giant Wildebeest , Mainland Orangutan , European Leopard , East Asian Ostrich , European Dhole , Cedres Tahr , Megalania , Diprotodon , Procoptodon , Metridiochoerus giant warthogs , Eucladoceros giant deer , Megantereon , Gigantopithecus blacki , and the american mountain deer ?

I wonder which of these pleistocene species would still be alive if it wasn’t for hunting by preshistoric humans ?

Thanks in advance

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u/justaavidadventurer — 1 day ago
▲ 60 r/pleistocene+1 crossposts

The cave bear lives in brown bears

700k years ago, we are in the cold tundra of Europe. Today is the mating season and a male adult cave bear is there looking for a mate. He is in heat and in need to pass on his genes. But he doesn't find any mate. He finally senses a smell. It seems that he's finally found a mating option but she's not a female of his species. Not so far away three male brown bears are competing over a female. The stronger and more aggressive male will be the one who will access her. But to their surprise they meet an unexpected rival. (Hiding from the woods) The male cave bear found the female brown bear. He's taking a risk of interbreeding with a interspecies female but he has no other options. (Shows up to the brown bears) The courtship is being inrerrupted by an unexpected rival. The male cave bear is larger, stronger and more aggressive than the three brown bear males. (Stands up on two legs and intimidates his rivals off) He won the competition. The female brown bear is captivated by his strength. Brown bears and cave bears may be species who diverged from each other around 1mya but noneless they can still successfully admix with each other. For the male brown bears this wasn't a lucky day. One day the cave bear will vanish and be replaced by his smaller Asian relative, but his legacy will still live on the latter. Today 0.9-2.4% of cave bear DNA is present in modern-day brown bears and polar bears.

u/SpearTheSurvivor — 1 day ago

Smilodon Embroidery

Wait, is embroidery considered art in this subreddit?

u/yorb134 — 1 day ago