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Figure 2 | BMC Evolutionary Biology

Figure 2

From: Late Quaternary loss of genetic diversity in muskox (Ovibos)

Figure 2

Finite 14C date distributions for fossil specimens of Ovibos. (A) northern North America and Greenland (N = 72; X = 3222 yr, SD = 4313 yr) and (B) Arctic periphery of Asia east of Kara Sea (N = 38; X = 22,522 yr, SD = 11,145 yr), collated from the literature [32,40,41]. In addition to a notable difference in dating intensity, with many more published 14C dates being available for New World Ovibos, there is also a considerable difference in sample statistics. Skewed date distribution for New World Ovibos reflects long-term effect of former icecaps on amount of habitable area [42]. In northeastern Asia, where only small, local (cordilleran) icecaps formed, potential range was less affected and Ovibos was presumably continuously present during the last 40–50,000 years. Star in B denotes 7,000 yr gap between "last" Pleistocene and "first" Holocene dated occurrences of Ovibos in Asia. Slight offset in "period of heightened extinction" in New World vs. Old World, amounting to approximately 500–1000 yr, reflects a moderate difference in "last" occurrence dates for mainland mammoths in the two areas [32].

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