Which large mammals became extinct near the end of the Pleistocene in North America?

The end of the Pleistocene Epoch in North America was marked by a significant extinction event that primarily affected large mammals, with 32 genera vanishing within a roughly 2,000-year interval centered around 11,000 years ago.1

The extinct species included a variety of both predators and herbivores:

• Predators: Dire wolf, American lion, sabre-toothed cat, American cheetah, and the short-faced bear.2
• Grazers and Browsers: Mammoths, mastodons, ground sloths, giant beavers, shrub oxen, woodland musk oxen, camels, llamas, two genera of deer, two genera of pronghorn antelope, the stag-moose, and five species of horses.21

The causes of these extinctions remain a subject of vigorous scientific debate. Two primary hypotheses are frequently cited: the "overkill hypothesis," which suggests that human hunting and environmental disruption led to the demise of these animals, and the "climatic-change hypothesis," which posits that abrupt shifts in climate and vegetation during the last glacial-interglacial transition created unsustainable stress for these species. It is widely considered likely that a combination of these factors, varying by region, contributed to the collapse of these megafaunal populations.21