TOEFL統合ライティング

📖 読解文章

The extinction of the North American megafauna—large animals such as mammoths, giant sloths, and saber-toothed cats—at the end of the Pleistocene epoch has long puzzled scientists. While climate change is often cited, a more compelling explanation is human overhunting, known as the 'Pleistocene overkill' hypothesis. First, archaeological evidence shows that human arrival in North America around 13,000 years ago correlates closely with the rapid disappearance of megafauna. Sites such as Clovis, New Mexico, contain spear points embedded in mammoth bones, indicating active hunting. Second, the megafauna species that went extinct were largely those with slow reproductive rates, such as mammoths and giant ground sloths, making them especially vulnerable to even modest levels of hunting pressure. In contrast, smaller, faster-reproducing species survived. Third, climate reconstructions from the period show that although the climate warmed, similar warming events had occurred earlier without causing mass extinctions. Therefore, humans, not climate, were the primary driver of these extinctions.

🎧 リスニング講義

The professor argues that the overkill hypothesis is flawed and that climate change better explains the megafauna extinction. First, while human arrival and extinction overlap, the archaeological evidence for hunting is sparse. Only a few dozen Clovis sites show clear kill marks, and many megafauna species, such as giant sloths, have no evidence of human predation at all. If overkill were responsible, we would expect widespread kill sites across the continent. Second, the professor points out that slow-reproducing species had survived previous climate shifts, so their vulnerability to hunting cannot be assumed. Instead, these species were adapted to stable environments, and the rapid, dramatic warming at the end of the Pleistocene disrupted their food sources and habitats. For example, the loss of open grasslands and the spread of forests would have reduced forage for mammoths. Third, the professor challenges the climate argument by noting that earlier warming events were not as abrupt or as severe as the one at the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary. This unique climate event, combined with other factors like disease, likely stressed megafauna populations beyond recovery. Thus, the lecture concludes that climate change, not human hunting, was the decisive factor.