Pleistocene Re-Wilding

Pleistocene rewilding is the advocacy of the reintroduction of descendants of Pleistocene megafauna, or their close ecological equivalents. An extension of the conservation practice of rewilding, which involves reintroducing species to areas where they became extinct in recent history (hundreds of years ago or less).

Towards the end of the Pleistocene era (roughly 13,000 to 10,000 years ago), nearly all megafauna of Europe, as well as South, Central and North America, dwindled towards extinction, in what has been referred to as the Quaternary extinction event. With the loss of large herbivores and predator species, niches important for ecosystem functioning were left unoccupied. In the words of the biologist Tim Flannery, "ever since the extinction of the megafauna 13,000 years ago, the continent has had a seriously unbalanced fauna". This means, for example, that the managers of national parks in North America have to resort to culling to keep the population of ungulates under control.

Paul S. Martin (originator of the Pleistocene overkill hypothesis[4]) states that present ecological communities in North America do not function appropriately in the absence of megafauna, because much of the native flora and fauna evolved under the influence of large mammals.

Ecological and evolutionary implications
Research shows that species interactions play a pivotal role in conservation efforts. Communities where species evolved in response to Pleistocene megafauna (but now lack large mammals) may be in danger of collapse. Most living megafauna are threatened or endangered; extant megafauna have a significant impact on the communities they occupy, which supports the idea that communities evolved in response to large mammals. Pleistocene rewilding could "serve as additional refugia to help preserve that evolutionary potential" of megafauna. Reintroducing megafauna to North America could preserve current megafauna, while filling ecological niches that have been vacant since the Pleistocene.

Birds

 * Common ostrich (as a proxy for the extinct giant rhea)


 * Emu (as a proxy for the extinct western rhea)


 * Greater rhea (as a proxy for the extinct California rhea)

Reptiles

 * Bolson tortoise (as a proxy for the extinct North American Bolson tortoise)


 * Galápagos tortoise (as a proxy for the extinct North American giant tortoise)

Mammals

 * Vampire human (as a proxy for the extinct subspecies of predatory Homo Sapiens)


 * Rainbraous (as a proxy for the extinct American pegasus)


 * Eckia (as a proxy for the extinct American winged unicorn)


 * Corey mc (as a proxy for the extinct Clovis people)


 * Savaish (as a proxy for the extinct Clovis people)


 * Homo erectus (as a proxy for the extinct Clovis people)


 * Homo ergaster (as a proxy for the extinct Clovis people)


 * Fujye (as a proxy for the extinct small subspecies of giant porcupines)


 * Domestic Dylanus (as a proxy for the extinct Florida common dylanus)


 * Indian Giant Dylanus (as a proxy for the extinct American giant dylanus)


 * Madagascar Giant Dylanus (as a proxy for the extinct steppe dylanus)


 * New Zealand Giant Dylanus (as a proxy for the extinct marbled dylanus)


 * Madagascar Trumpet-Nosed Dylanus (as a proxy for the extinct lowland dylanus)


 * European Dylanus (as a proxy for the extinct highland dylanus)


 * African Dylanus (as a proxy for the extinct southern desert dylanus)


 * Asian Dylanus (as a proxy for the extinct Joc's dylanus)


 * Florida Running Dylanus (as a proxy for the extinct western running dylanus)


 * Giana Urseyain (as a proxy for the extinct American giana urseyain)


 * Opossum (as a proxy for the extinct California opossum)


 * Springhare (as a proxy for the extinct giant kangaroo rat)


 * Burgundy Bandicoot (as a proxy for the extinct American werewolf)


 * Tasmanian devil (as a proxy for the extinct pyrocarnus, an extinct predatory opossum)


 * Looney Tune-ish Tasmanian Devil (as a proxy for the extinct subpopulations of the American Killer Dylanus)


 * Gerbil (as a proxy for the extinct false kangaroo rats)


 * New Guinea tree kangaroos (as a proxy for the extinct arboriolepus, the large tree opossum)


 * Kakamora (as a proxy for other ground sloths, which are sadly extinct)


 * Wild yak (as a proxy for the extinct American yak)


 * Giraffe (as a proxy for the extinct American indricotheres)


 * Okapi (as a proxy for the extinct American indricotheres)


 * Thomson's gazelle (as a proxy for the extinct dwarf pronghorn)


 * Impala (as a proxy for the extinct Stockoceros, a prehistoric species of pronghorn)


 * Blackbuck (as a proxy for the extinct Tetrameryx, a prehistoric species of pronghorn)


 * Gerenuk (as a proxy for the extinct Mouranomeryx, a prehistoric species of pronghorn which had a long gerenuk-like neck)


 * Dromedary camel (as a proxy for the extinct American camelids)


 * Guanaco (as a proxy for the extinct American camelids)


 * Vicuña (as a proxy for the extinct American camelids)


 * Domestic Mesoron (as a proxy for the extinct Moropus, a native North American chalicothere)


 * Mountain tapir (as a proxy for the extinct California tapir)


 * South American tapir (as a proxy for the extinct Cope's tapir)


 * Baird's tapir (as a proxy for the extinct Tapirus veroensis)


 * Kabomani tapir (as a proxy for the extinct Tapirus merriami)


 * Mongolian wild horse (as a proxy for the extinct American wild horses)


 * Mustang (as a proxy for the extinct American wild horses)


 * Donkey (as a proxy for the extinct American wild horses)


 * Plains zebra (as a proxy for the extinct American wild horses)


 * Grévy's zebra (as a proxy for the extinct American wild horses)


 * Sumatran rhinoceros (as a proxy for the extinct protitanotherium)


 * Javan rhinoceros (as a proxy for the extinct megacerops)


 * Indian rhinoceros (as a proxy for the extinct lambdotherium)


 * Black rhinoceros (as a proxy for the extinct brontotherium)


 * White rhinoceros (as a proxy for the extinct embulotherium)


 * African elephant (as a proxy for the extinct populations of American Southern Mammoth)


 * Asian elephant (as a proxy for the extinct populations of American Northern Mammoth)

Amphibians

 * Japanese giant salamander (as a proxy for the extinct giant hellbender)

Fish

 * Bull shark (as a proxy for the extinct American bull shark)

Birds

 * Carakiller (as a proxy for the extinct terror birds)

Mammals

 * Babookari (as a proxy for TBA)

Birds

 * Carakiller (as a proxy for the extinct terror birds]]

Mammals

 * Snowstalker (as a proxy for the extinct Megantereon)

Reptiles

 * Toraton (as a proxy for some extinct populations of the Giga Elephant)

Mammals

 * Tasmanian devil (as a proxy for the extinct mainland devils)

Reptiles

 * Komodo dragon (as a proxy for the long-extinct Megalania)

Mammals

 * Domestic Jack's Giant (as a proxy for the long-extinct true Diprotodon)
 * Jack's Giant Wombat (as a proxy for the long-extinct true Diprotodon)
 * Black rhinoceros (as a proxy for some populations of the long-extinct true Diprotodon)
 * White rhinoceros (as a proxy for some populations of the long-extinct true Diprotodon)
 * African bush elephant (as a proxy for some populations of the long-extinct true Diprotodon)
 * African lion (as a proxy for the long-extinct Marsupial Lion)

Rules

 * Please do not add animals that replace the ones that are already going to be cloned in real life, like woolly mammoths, dodos, passenger pigeons, thylacines, moas, etc.
 * Please do not edit without my and DinosaursRoar's permissions.
 * Please do not copy this page.
 * Please don't use fictional species (except for Future Is Wild animals [e.g. carakillers would replace terror birds], After Man animals [e.g. Raboons would replace short-faced bears], DeviantArt's animals, and/or animals the users of this wikia have made).
 * Please add locations for every animal (example: TBA [as a proxy for the extinct TBA; introduced to {location})
 * Please add animals that can replace non-De Extinction animals. But also have them replace the ones from 13,000 years ago to the present day.