Editing Quaternary (section)

== Flora and fauna ==
{{Expand section|date=March 2023}}
{{Further|Late Pleistocene extinctions}}
There was a major [[extinction]] of large mammals globally during the [[Late Pleistocene]] Epoch.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Barnosky |first1=Anthony D. |last2=Koch |first2=Paul L. |last3=Feranec |first3=Robert S. |last4=Wing |first4=Scott L. |last5=Shabel |first5=Alan B. |date=October 2004 |title=Assessing the Causes of Late Pleistocene Extinctions on the Continents |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1101476 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=306 |issue=5693 |pages=70–75 |doi=10.1126/science.1101476 |pmid=15459379 |bibcode=2004Sci...306...70B |issn=0036-8075}}</ref> Many forms such as [[sabre-toothed cat]]s, [[mammoth]]s, [[mastodon]]s, [[glyptodon]]ts, etc., became extinct worldwide. Others, including [[horse]]s, [[Camelops|camels]] and [[American cheetah]]s became extinct in [[North America]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Haynes |title=Stanford Camelops |url=http://www.unr.edu/cla/anthro/people/faculty/haynes/download%20Haynes+StanfordCamelops.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309104319/http://www.unr.edu/cla/anthro/people/faculty/haynes/download%20Haynes+StanfordCamelops.pdf |archive-date=9 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Extinct American Cheetah Fact Sheet |url=http://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/_extinct/cheetah1_american/cheetah1_american.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023142/http://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/_extinct/cheetah1_american/cheetah1_american.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=10 December 2015 |website=library.sandiegozoo.org}}</ref>

The [[Great Lakes]] formed and giant mammals thrived in parts of North America and Eurasia not covered in ice. These mammals became extinct when the glacial period ended about 11,700 years ago. Modern [[humans]] evolved about 315,000 years ago. During the Quaternary Period, mammals, flowering plants, and insects dominated the land. {{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}