The Quaternary extinction event, which began around 12,000 years ago, saw the demise of fifty-seven species of megafauna, representing 35 genera, in the following 2,000 years, including the popularly known wooly mammoth and two other proboscideans, the taxonomic order to which mammoths and elephants belong (Bulte et al., 2005 Surovell & Waguespack, 2009). Megafauna went extinct almost systematically during the latter part of the Pleistocene Epoch, the period of Earth’s history from 2.6 million years ago to 11,700 years ago (Johnson, 2018). These large mammals, or megafauna, are defined with respect to their taxonomic group, and typically denote species that weigh over 1000 kg (Lupe & Schmitt, 2016). The plains of prehistoric North America were once habitat to the largest mammals to ever walk the planet. Quaternary period, megafauna, extinction, Paleoindians, optimal foraging This research carries serious implications regarding the dangers of climate change as well as human overexploitation of natural resources as risk factors for biodiversity loss and should be considered in conversations surrounding modern day conservation efforts. Total energy expended exceeded the proposed net caloric return rate for consumption of a mammoth, suggesting that a variety of factors, and not human hunting alone, ultimately caused the Quaternary extinction event. Considering optimal foraging theory the overkill hypothesis is improbable. This piece further explores this hypothesis through an economic lens, considering the advantages and disadvantages to hunting large game with regards to tradeoffs in energy expenditure. Two primary, yet conflicting, hypotheses aim to explain the cause of this biodiversity loss, leading many scholars to ask: was climate change or human overhunting responsible for the demise of North American megafauna? Support for the latter theory, or the overkill hypothesis, comes from archaeological evidence suggesting that the arrival of the first humans in the Americas, the Paleoindians, and the first megafaunal extinctions occurred roughly in tandem. Regarding excessive wound infliction, analysis reveals significant relationships in the use of blunt objects and the presence of multiple offenders.The Quaternary Period is infamous for overseeing the extinction of some of prehistory’s most charismatic species, including the wooly mammoth and American mastodon. Results indicate cut-off points for firearms to be 3 wounds, sharp instruments 17 wounds, and blunt force trauma 6 wounds. A binary logistic regression analysis will focus on variables that will be used to formulate a definition of overkill. This exploratory study will discover cut-off points per category (firearm, sharp instruments, and blunt force trauma) of the number of wounds that are to be labeled as overkill. Developing a definition can help facilitate examinations of lethal incidents and encourage the exploration that overkill has to an individual person's death. The purpose of this research is to gather information from literature and exemplary cases, which imply excessive wound infliction and may aid in defining and analyzing data on overkill. This study aims to define "overkill" based on the number and extent of injuries for LGBT homicides between the years 1969 to 2018 (provided by Dallas Drake, co-founder of the Center for Homicide Research) and, in doing so, develop a classification of characteristics of overkill. It has been observed in a variety of incidents, but it has not been systematically defined or examined in the literature in regard to why it occurs. This is what is often referred to as overkill. The vast literature available, however, has avoided distinguishing homicide characterized by excessive wounds as a particular category or type of murder. Homicide is a major social issue that has been studied by many researchers worldwide.
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