What other explanations have been proposed for the extinction of large Pleistocene animals?

The debate surrounding the extinction of large Pleistocene animals—often referred to as megafaunal extinctions—primarily centers on two major hypotheses: the overkill hypothesis, which attributes the losses to human hunting, and the theory of abrupt climatic change and environmental stress.12

Beyond these two primary arguments, other explanations have been proposed to account for the late Pleistocene extinctions, including:

• Disease Outbreaks: Some researchers have suggested that the spread of pathogens may have contributed to the decline of certain species.2
• Complex Biological and Biophysical Interactions: Some theories posit that the formation of new, modern biotic communities at the end of the Pleistocene resulted from intricate interactions among species, which ultimately led to the extinction of many faunal forms that were adapted to the more equable climate of the late Pleistocene.2

It is widely considered likely that the causes of these extinctions were not uniform, but rather varied by geographic region and specific environmental conditions, with both human activities and climatic shifts playing roles of differing importance.1