The significance of the Pleistocene ice ages for the animal migration

Abstract

Ledeno doba prevladalo je i doseglo svoj vrhunac u pleistocenu. Zahlađenje naše planete bilo je postupno a počelo je prije oko 800 tisuća godina i završilo prije oko 10 tisuća godina. Bitna značajka koja je temeljito označila ledeno doba bile su korjenite promjene u zajednicama živoga svijeta. U ovom radu izložen je kratki pregled najpoznatijih pleistocenskih životinjskih vrsta, s naglaskom na njihovu rasprostranjenost u svijetu u ledenom dobu i danas. Klimatske promjene pleistocena koje su dovele do ledenog doba odrazile su se na velike promjene u životinjskom i biljnom svijetu. Gotovo sve vrste u pleistocenu bile su prisiljene na tri odabira: prilagoditi se novim uvjetima, odnosno evoluirati, migrirati u nova staništa ili jednostavno izumrijeti.The Ice Age reached its peak in the Pleistocene epoch. Our planet became gradually colder; this began about eight hundred thousand and ended about ten thousand years ago. One important feature of the Ice Age was a significant change that happened in the wild life communitie of the planet. This paper contains a brief overview of the most familiar animal species of the Pleistocene epoch and it especially notes their spread in the world during the Ice Age and today. The climate changes of the Pleistocene that led to the Ice Age caused massive changes in both, the animal and the plant world. Almost all Pleistocene species were forced to make one of three choices: either to adapt to the new conditions, that is to say, to evolve, to migrate into new habitats or to simply extinct