Paleoecology of the Large-Mammal Community in Interior Alaska during the Late Pleistocene

This study of the palcoecology of four fossil assemblages of large mammals from the late Pleistocene sediments near Fairbanks, Alaska, emphasizes the structure, composition, habitat, and the pat- tern of subsequent extinction of the community. All four faunas were composed predominantly of grazers. Bison, horse, and mammoth were the most common species. Many component species of this complex community of large mammals became extinct near the close of the Wisconsin glaciation, leaving the comparatively depauperate community that exists in Alaska today. The high percentage of grazers in the fossil community suggests that interior Alaska was a grassland en- vironment during the late Pleistocene.