A Summary and Critique of Paul S. Martin’s Twilight of the Mammoths
The application of ecological studies to the adaptations of prehistoric human hunter-gatherer groups has significantly augmented humankind’s ability to interpret the impacts of an ever-changing ecosystem and humans’ access to critical resources about these populaces. The transition from Pleistocene to Holocene, its climate, and humanity’s origin in the new world has been the locus of a myriad of scientific studies. Paleontologist Paul S. Martin, in his Twilight of the Mammoths, adds his views on the extinction of megafauna during a cultural period known to North Americans as Clovis.
Summary
Martin’s essay is partly an academic discourse, partly scientific review, yet all arguments. In chapter two of his essay, Overview of Overkill, Martin echoes his “overkill” hypothesis and blames humans for over-hunting the ice age megafauna of mammoths, sloths, Neanderthals, and others in the last few tens of thousands of years, leading to the extinction of these mammals and birds (48). The author contends that about eleven millennia years ago, megafauna roamed the North American continent. However, human arrival at the end of the last great ice age translated into the vanishing of these species, leaving behind one of the greatest riddles in the antiquity of science.
Martin’s essay presents a detailed discussion of his “overkill” hypothesis to explain the mysterious extinction of this megafauna. The author argues that humans were a potent destructive force as they either hunted or outcompeted megafauna. While discussing the discoveries that led to this hypothesis, the author relates several colorful tales and offers a rich overview of the field of paleontology plus his fascinating career. Martin explores the implications of this hypothesis for similar extinctions throughout the world besides examining other explanations – such as climate change – for these extinctions.
The fundamental premise in Martin’s essay is that these megafauna – herbivores, and carnivores such as North American lions, saber-tooth tigers, mastodons, and several land-dwelling birds – are now globally extinct as a result of rapid human expansion. Martin’s thesis bases on several observations in field research and subsequent fossil analysis, facilitated principally by radiocarbon dating. Also, the author bases his thesis on critical scientific anthropogenic and paleontological research by peers over the last four decades.
Martin culminates his essay with a somewhat controversial statement. Generally, most environmental scientists believed that radical climate change was responsible for mass extinctions on the planet. However, Martin not only intends to convince the reader and the entire scientific community that the original pioneering North Americans – the Clovis people – are responsible for the mass extinction. Still, the author not only mourns the loss of ice age’s magnificent beats but also wants to restore as many as possible to the wilderness of North America by “restarting evolution” of the lost giants by reintroducing animals – such as elephants, not bison and gazelle – that fill as closely as possible the niches of extinct fauna (CITE).
Critique
Generally, chapter two of Martin’s essay seeks to explain the early struggle with the discovery that extinctions happened during short intervals of time on various landmasses. With environmental change being the prime culprit, Martin uses this section to illustrate how human activity fueled the annihilation of historic megafauna. The author adopts a somewhat mixed approach in his essay; he commences with a heavily technical thesis on classifications, radiocarbon dating and Quaternary genus extinctions, and other categories.
Martin then moves to an overview of the concept of “overkill,” which he follows by a series of essays on field research, such as one conducted in the Grand Canyon. Through this initial chapter, readers will feel like being thrown back into their wildlife biology days, with a literature that qualifies to be an academic journal review – though not literary – and is essential to the creation of a baseline for the author’s argument.
Martin takes a step-by-step approach to make his case and occasionally steps out of character in revealing his frustration with other scientists and the failure to find useful scientific data. One may assume that this chapter functions as Martin’s passionate letter or a strong sermon – a basis for his growing sermon – that he uses to convince his peers and the general audience that humans are primarily the cause of mass extinctions.
The overkill hypothesis is a controversial one, notwithstanding its traction within the archaeological community. Generally, humans are not to blame for primarily causing megafauna extinction. The author leaves out a piece of important information: timing. Research by Clarkson, Jacobs, Marwick, Fullagar, Wallis, Smith, … and Pardoe (306) found that humans arrived at Australia’s Madjedbebe rock shelter for nearly 65 millennia years ago, about ten millennia than historians previously believed. The researchers’ findings are critical because when one looks at the extinction of Australian megafauna, s/he will realize that these faunas started becoming extinct sometime around sixty and forty millennia ago.
What this data suggests is that humans existed in this landscape long before population stress started affecting megafauna and subsequent signs of extinction. Thus, timing serves as humans’ alibi as it clears them of the primary responsibility. Often, archeologists rarely land upon such decisive results that shift arguments from ongoing debates to factual conclusions, and this could be one of them.
Certainly, recent research findings have hinted at upending the conventional human immigration timeline. Thus, it would come as no surprise to realize that humans arrived in North America thousands of years than researchers previously believed. If this is true, then it could imply broad consequences – extending beyond the scientific realm. The knowledge that humans existed in specific landscapes long before most scientists anticipate could suggest that humankind is not responsible for the mass megafauna extinction. Instead, this could open a window to new information regarding the relationship between humans and fauna – one of which could extend beyond the claim of humanity’s total domination and infliction of environmental disputes. Simply because a spearhead exists in the same location as a mammoth’s bones does not mean humans were responsible for the latter’s annihilation.
Nevertheless, Martin’s essay is suitable for a wide audience as it explores the earth’s rich evolutionary legacy and humans’ role in the extinction of wildlife species. Although the author focuses on historical accounts, his visionary thinking is both challenging and inspirational to conservational efforts in modern-day society. The fundamental claim in Martin’s essay also applies to the modern world where scientific and technological advancements have translated to transformed wildlife conservation. Evidently, modern technology owes an apology to the planet’s ecology and environmental scientists are currently focused on remedying the ecological imbalance stemming from humans’ invasion into wildlife habitats. Presently, scientists are using technologies such as GPS, meter, and sensor-embedded smart collars in tracking endangered species like elephants and rhinos; scientists are also monitoring wildlife sounds and noises to detect natural distress or predators. These, among the many measures adopted globally, have helped protect the fauna.
Works cited
Clarkson, Chris, Zenobia Jacobs, Ben Marwick, Richard Fullagar, Lynley Wallis, Mike Smith, … and Colin Pardoe. “Human occupation of northern Australia by 65,000 years ago.” Nature, vol. 547, 2017, 306-310, https://www.nature.com/articles/nature22968. Accessed 7 Aug. 2020.
Martin, Paul S. “Overview of overkill.” Twilight of the Mammoths: Ice age extinctions and the rewilding of America. University of California Press, 2005, pp. 48-57.