The last occurrence of Pleistocene megafauna in the Ecuadorian Andes

The latest Pleistocene Ð Holocene megafauna extinction is a global event, particularly dramatic in the Americas. In a previous paper the authors hypothesised a scenario for this extinction event in South America, where mastodonts ®rst su€ered from the changing climate environment, followed by the mylodonts and equids. These di€erent latest Pleistocene Ð Holocene megafauna extinction ``waves'' in Ecuadorian Andes have been dated using 14C methods on material from selected sites in north and central Ecuadorian Interandean Depression. An outline of the physiographic evolution of the Interandean Depression in Ecuador is o€ered and the stratigraphic setting of the fossiliferous sites is discussed. The present results con®rm the author's hypothesis on the megafauna extinction pattern, previously published in terms of relative age. The importance of climatic changes during Last Glacial Maximum at low latitudes is discussed.