Chibanian Stage
Age of the Mammoth Steppe
The Chibanian Stage (0.774–0.129 Ma) is the third age in the Pleistocene, occurring after the Calabrian, and before the Upper Pleistocene (Tarantian).
Geologic Age
774,000–129,000 years ago
Eon / Era / Period / Epoch
What Happened During this Time?
The earliest record of Homo sapiens found in Morocco around 300,000 years ago (Hublin et al. 2017)
This is the time of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in which glacial ice sheets were at their greatest extent.
This process started around 33 kya and was greatest between 26.5 kya and 20 kya.
During this time the mammoth steppe, a biome dominated by high-productive and cold-adapted grasses, herbs, and willow shrubs. This was the Earth's most extensive biome during the Pleistocene
Additional Resources
This CRISPR startup thinks that mammoths can save the Arctic. Is it right? (Popular Science 13Sep2021)
Pleistocene Park (The Atlantic, April 2017)
Rewilding could prevent Arctic permafrost thaw and reduce climate change risks (Phys.org 27Jan2020)
Original article: Pleistocene Arctic megafaunal ecological engineering as a natural climate solution? (Macias-Fauria et al. 2020)
Ancient megafaunal mutualisms and extinctions as factors in plant domestication (Phys.org 25Mar2021)
Original article: Exaptation Traits for Megafaunal Mutualisms as a Factor in Plant Domestication (Spengler et al. 2021)