Publications by authors named "Ayla van Loenen"
Article Synopsis
- European bison were once common in Europe but faced near extinction due to a mix of environmental changes and human activities, especially during the late Pleistocene and into the Holocene.
- The population sharply declined as the Pleistocene ended, primarily due to rapid environmental shifts and increased hunting pressure from humans, which inhibited recovery even when conditions improved.
- Key findings indicate that while human hunting significantly contributed to their decline, extensive habitat loss occurred from post-glacial changes, implying that these areas should not be targeted for attempts to reintroduce the species.
Widespread male sex bias in mammal fossil and museum collections.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
September 2019
A recent study of mammoth subfossil remains has demonstrated the potential of using relatively low-coverage high-throughput DNA sequencing to genetically sex specimens, revealing a strong male-biased sex ratio [P. Pečnerová et al., 27, 3505-3510.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe geographical range of extant peccaries extends from the southwestern United States through Central America and into northern Argentina. However, from the Miocene until the Pleistocene now-extinct peccary species inhabited the entirety of North America. Relationships among the living and extinct species have long been contentious.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe two living species of bison (European and American) are among the few terrestrial megafauna to have survived the late Pleistocene extinctions. Despite the extensive bovid fossil record in Eurasia, the evolutionary history of the European bison (or wisent, Bison bonasus) before the Holocene (<11.7 thousand years ago (kya)) remains a mystery.
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