Giant Sloths and Sabertooth Cats: Extinct Mammals and the Archaeology of the Ice Age Great Basin

by Donald K. Grayson

As the Ice Age came to an end, North America lost a stunning variety of animals. Mammoths, mastodon, llamas, ground-dwelling sloths the size of elephants, beavers the size of bears, pronghorn antelope the size of poodles, and carnivores to chase them—sabertooth cats, dire wolves, American lions and cheetahs; these and many more were gone by 10,000 years ago. Giant Sloths and Sabertooth Cats surveys all these animals, with a particular focus on the Great Basin. The book also explores the major attempts to explain the extinctions. Because some believe that they were due to the activities of human hunters, the author also reviews the archaeological evidence left by the earliest known human occupants of the Great Basin, showing that people were here at the same time and in the same places as many of the extinct animals.  
Were these animals abundant in the Great Basin? A detailed analysis of the distinctive assemblages of plants that now live in this region leads to a surprising, and perhaps controversial, conclusion about those abundances. 
 
If you are interested in Ice Age mammals or in the Ice Age archaeology of North America, if you are interested in the natural history of the Great Basin or the ways in which the plants of today’s landscapes might be used to understand the deeper past, you will be fascinated by this book.  

Genres: Science, Palaeontology, Nonfiction, Biology, Natural History, Nature

448 pages, Paperback

Published May 20, 2016

Reviews

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

So this book is really good. It reads like a PBS documentary. First he gives a short funny story including giant ground sloth footprints and Mark Twain. After that the book immediately gets into looking at the animals of the ice age by their family then species. Some species only get a short paragraph but many get many pages with copious descriptions and various stats we know about the animals. Personally speaking I prefer this approach because this is why I come to books of this nature. After this section it gets into carbon dating. This is the first half of the book, after this it is a deep focus on archaeological sites and early humans.

I was less interested in the second half of the book, but the first half was a freaking blast. All of this being said, this seems like some serious academic writing, good enough to be a thesis for sure. I don't know if it was but it clearly read like that.

I think my biggest takeaway from this book is that giant land sloths must have had an outsized impact on the ecosystems of the Americas and it wasn't that long ago. It's insane that they just don't exist anymore and that all that exists of that niche is a group of cool tree going sluggish sloths that live in trees. Also the short faced bear must have been terrifying to early humans. I mean it was essentially the weight of an f150 and could probably move at 40 mph. I was terrified thinking about it.

I think what is most incredible about all of this book is that all of this wasn't that long ago. I mean like the author says in the preface. It's time that we can internalize in that it wasn't that long ago, unlike the dinosaurs.

[Mike Dettinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly readable presentation of the pre-history of mega-fauna of the Ice Age Great Basin. I'll never look at these landscapes that are now my home the same way. Large-large beasties but not many of them, because--of all things--the GB was just too wet for them. Chemical rather than thorny defenses on our vegetation. And how the first people interacted with them (or not). Its all an amazing story, and Grayson tells it in casual and informed stories of science and scientists.

[Sharman Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a big fan of giant sloths and sabertooth cats, and of Donald Grayson. We met years ago when I was writing a book called When the Land was Young: Reflections on American Archaeology. Don Grayson and Paul Martin were on opposite sides of an argument: was it overhunting by humans or climate change that killed off over 70% of large land animals in what we call the Pleistocene Extinctions? The two men were good friends and argued about this in a deliberately civil way, not always true with this argument and among other scholars. At one point we were riding in Paul Martin's old truck and the door was stuck. Don and I couldn't get out. Paul stood outside grinning at us. Don and I began beating at the truck window, saying, "Okay, you win! It was overhunting! It was overhunting!" But then Don took that back once Paul released us.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book on Pleistocene megafauna out there. It not only deals with the different types of animals, but where they were found, the histories of significant archaeology digs, the plants they ate and how that changed over time, and my favorite: his rundown of how the extinctions occurred. Page 289 was particularly mind blowing when it described the evidence for the massive walls of ice that blocked cold arctic air from reaching further south, and when the ice melted, the plant communities drastically shifted with the now colder climate. Larger animals had trouble adapting and there's evidence that smaller mammals like voles, that have such short reproductive cycles, were able to adapt and split up into separate species, with large animals unable to keep up. So cool. Worth a read if you're into this lind of stuff. The author is also super cool and laid back.

[Colin Moran · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will start by saying overall I enjoyed this book, but at several points I had to force myself to continue reading it. I was mostly here for the ice age megafauna, but the book itself is very much for about the world of the past and present around these animals rather than the animals themselves.

It's very clear the author is extremely passionate and knowledgeable about this subject and there was a lot of take away from this book I enjoyed. If you're simply looking for a book on pleistocene mammals I would suggest looking elsewhere.

[Izzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a greatly biased on this front because Dr. D.K. Grayson was my professor where we read this book. He is my all-time favourite professor and he really managed to write in his personality into the book. I have yet to read his other works but plan on doing so in the future.

[Laura Madsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book at the Great Basin National Park visitor center. It provides a really interesting look at the paleozoology, paleobotany, and archaeology of the late Pleistocene.