Beringia

The term Beringia was coined by the Swedish botanist Eric Hultén in 1937, from the Danish-born Russian explorer Vitus Bering.{{cite book|author1=John F. Hoffecker|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VgomQY3o9U0C&pg=PA3|title=Human Ecology of Beringia|author2=Scott A. Elias|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-231-13060-8|page=3|access-date=2016-04-10}} During the ice ages, Beringia, like most of Siberia and all of North and Northeast China, was not glaciated because snowfall was very light.{{cite book|author=Karel Hendrik Voous|title=Proceedings of the 15th International Ornithological Congress, The Hague, The Netherlands 30 August–5 September 1970|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EdgUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA33|year=1973|publisher=Brill Archive|isbn=978-90-04-03551-5|page=33|access-date=2016-04-10}}

File:Beringia - late wisconsin glaciation.gif

The remains of Late Pleistocene mammals that had been discovered on the Aleutians and islands in the Bering Sea at the close of the nineteenth century indicated that a past land connection might lie beneath the shallow waters between Alaska and Chukotka. The underlying mechanism was first thought to be tectonics, but by 1930 changes in the ice mass balance, leading to global sea-level fluctuations were viewed as the cause of the Bering land bridge.Hopkins DM. 1967. Introduction. In: Hopkins DM, editor. The Bering land bridge. Stanford: Stanford University Press. pp. 1–6.{{cite journal|doi = 10.1002/evan.21478|pmid = 27061035|title = Beringia and the global dispersal of modern humans|journal = Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews|volume = 25|issue = 2|pages = 64–78|year = 2016|last1 = Hoffecker|first1 = John F.|last2 = Elias|first2 = Scott A.|last3 = O'Rourke|first3 = Dennis H.|last4 = Scott|first4 = G. Richard|last5 = Bigelow|first5 = Nancy H.|s2cid = 3519553}} In 1937, Eric Hultén proposed that around the Aleutians and the Bering Strait region were tundra plants that had originally dispersed from a now-submerged plain between Alaska and Chukotka, which he named Beringia after Vitus Bering who had sailed into the strait in 1728.Hultén E. 1937. Outline of the history of arctic and boreal biota during the Quaternary Period. New York: Lehre J. Cramer. The distribution of plants in the genera Erythranthe and Pinus are good examples of this, as very similar genera members are found in Asia and the Americas.{{cite journal | last1 = Nesom| first1 = G. L.| year= 2011| title =A New Species of Erythranthe (Phrymaceae) From China| url =http://www.phytoneuron.net/2017Phytoneuron/07PhytoN-Erythranthediminuens.pdf| journal = Phytoneuron | volume =7 | pages = 1–5 | issn=2153-733X}}{{cite journal | last1 = Brubaker| first1 = Linda B.| last2 = Anderson| first2 = Patricia| last3 = Edwards| first3 = Mary E.| last4 =Anatoly| first4 = Lozhkin | year= 2005| title =Beringia as a glacial refugium for boreal trees and shrubs: New perspectives from mapped pollen data| url =https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229646915| journal = Journal of Biogeography | volume =32 | issue =5| pages =833–48|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2004.01203.x| bibcode = 2005JBiog..32..833B| s2cid = 86019879}}

The American arctic geologist David Hopkins{{Cite book |last=O'Neill |first=Dan |url=https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/dan-oneill/the-last-giant-of-beringia/9780465051571/?lens=basic-books |title=The Last Giant of Beringia |date= |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-465-05157-1 |language=en-US}} redefined Beringia to include portions of Alaska and Northeast Asia. Beringia was later regarded as extending from the Verkhoyansk Mountains in the west to the Mackenzie River in the east.

During the Pleistocene epoch, global cooling led periodically to the expansion of glaciers and the lowering of sea levels; these processes created land connections in various regions around the globe.[Lowe JJ, Walker M. 1997 Reconstructing quaternary environments, 2nd edn. Harlow, UK: Prentice Hall. Today, the average water depth of the Bering Strait is {{cvt|40–50|m|abbr=off}}; therefore the land bridge opened when the sea level dropped more than {{cvt|50|m}} below the current level.{{cite journal | last1 = Miller | first1 = K.G. | last2 = Kominz | first2 = M.A. | last3 = Browning | first3 = J.V. | last4 = Wright | first4 = J.D. | last5 = Mountain | first5 = G.S. | last6 = Katz | first6 = M.E. | last7 = Sugarman | first7 = P.J. | last8 = Cramer | first8 = B.S. | last9 = Christie-Blick | first9 = N. | last10 = Pekar | first10 = S.F. | year = 2005 | title = The Phanerozoic record of global sea-level change | url =https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D8C53WV8/download | journal = Science | volume = 310 | issue = 5752| pages = 1293–98 | doi=10.1126/science.1116412 | pmid=16311326| bibcode = 2005Sci...310.1293M | s2cid = 7439713 }}{{cite journal | last1 = Siddall | first1 = M. | last2 = Rohling | first2 = E.J. | last3 = Almogi-Labin | first3 = A. | last4 = Hemleben | first4 = C. | last5 = Eischner | first5 = D. | last6 = Schmelzer | first6 = I | last7 = Smeed | first7 = D.A. | year = 2003 | title = Sealevel fluctuations during the last glacial cycle | journal = Nature | volume = 423 | issue = 6942| pages = 853–58 | doi=10.1038/nature01690| pmid = 12815427 | bibcode = 2003Natur.423..853S | s2cid = 4420155 | url = https://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gro-2/45765 }} A reconstruction of the sea-level history of the region indicated that a seaway existed from {{c.|135,000|70,000|lk=yes}} YBP, a land bridge from {{c.|70,000|60,000}} YBP, an intermittent connection from {{c.|60,000|30,000|lk=no}} YBP, and a land bridge from {{c.|30,000|11,000|lk=no}} YBP, followed by a Holocene sea-level rise that reopened the strait.{{cite journal|doi = 10.1038/ngeo729|title = Influence of Bering Strait flow and North Atlantic circulation on glacial sea-level changes|journal = Nature Geoscience|volume = 3|issue = 2|pages = 118|year = 2010|last1 = Hu|first1 = Aixue|last2 = Meehl|first2 = Gerald A.|last3 = Otto-Bliesner|first3 = Bette L.|author-link3=Bette Otto-Bliesner|last4 = Waelbroeck|first4 = Claire|last5 = Han|first5 = Weiqing|last6 = Loutre|first6 = Marie-France|last7 = Lambeck|first7 = Kurt|author-link8=Jerry X. Mitrovica|last8 = Mitrovica|first8 = Jerry X.|last9 = Rosenbloom|first9 = Nan|bibcode = 2010NatGe...3..118H|citeseerx = 10.1.1.391.8727}}{{cite journal|doi =10.1098/rspb.2013.2167|title =Faunal record identifies Bering isthmus conditions as constraint to end-Pleistocene migration to the New World|journal =Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume =281|issue =1776|pages =20132167|year =2013|last1 =Meiri|first1 =M.|last2 =Lister|first2 =A. M.|last3 =Collins|first3 =M. J.|last4 =Tuross|first4 =N.|last5 =Goebel|first5 =T.|last6 =Blockley|first6 =S.|last7 =Zazula|first7 =G. D.|last8 =Van Doorn|first8 =N.|last9 =Dale Guthrie|first9 =R.|last10 =Boeskorov|first10 =G. G.|last11 =Baryshnikov|first11 =G. F.|last12 =Sher|first12 =A.|last13 =Barnes|first13 =I.|pmid=24335981|pmc=3871309}} Post-glacial rebound has continued to raise some sections of the coast.{{Cn|date=October 2024}}

File:Global sea levels during the last Ice Age.jpg caused a much lower global sea level|upright=1.3]]

During the last glacial period, enough of the Earth's water became frozen in the great ice sheets covering North America and Europe to cause a drop in sea levels. For thousands of years the sea floors of many interglacial shallow seas were exposed, including those of the Bering Strait, the Chukchi Sea to the north, and the Bering Sea to the south. Other land bridges around the world have emerged and disappeared in the same way. Around 14,000 years ago, mainland Australia was linked to both New Guinea and Tasmania, the British Isles became an extension of continental Europe via the dry beds of the English Channel and North Sea, and the dry bed of the South China Sea linked Sumatra, Java, and Borneo to Indochina.{{Cn|date=October 2024}}

File:Lgm ccsm4 beringia annual precipitation.png

{{See also|Mammoth steppe|Asa Gray disjunction}}

The last glacial period, commonly (and inaccurately) referred to as the "Ice Age", spanned 125,000–14,500{{nbsp}}YBP and was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age, which occurred during the last years of the Pleistocene era. The Ice Age reached its peak during the Last Glacial Maximum, when ice sheets began advancing from 33,000{{nbsp}}YBP and reached their maximum limits 26,500{{nbsp}}YBP. Deglaciation commenced in the Northern Hemisphere approximately 19,000{{nbsp}}YBP and in Antarctica approximately 14,500 years{{nbsp}}YBP; these dates are consistent with evidence that glacial meltwater was the primary source for an abrupt rise in sea level 14,500{{nbsp}}YBP and the bridge was finally inundated around 11,000 YBP. The fossil evidence from many continents points to the extinction of large animals, termed Pleistocene megafauna, near the end of the last glaciation.

During the Ice Age a vast, cold and dry mammoth steppe stretched from the arctic islands southwards to China, and from Spain eastwards across Eurasia and over the Bering land bridge into Alaska and the Yukon where it was blocked by the Wisconsin glaciation. Therefore, the flora and fauna of Beringia were more related to those of Eurasia rather than North America. Beringia received more moisture and intermittent maritime cloud cover from the north Pacific Ocean than the rest of the Mammoth steppe, including the dry environments on either side of it. This moisture supported a shrub-tundra habitat that provided an ecological refugium for plants and animals. In East Beringia 35,000 YBP, the northern arctic areas experienced temperatures {{convert|1.5|C-change|||}} degrees warmer than today but the southern sub-Arctic regions were {{convert|2|C-change|0||}} degrees cooler. During the LGM 22,000 YBP the average summer temperature was {{convert|3-5|C-change|0|}} degrees cooler than today, with variations of {{convert|2.9|C-change||}} degrees cooler on the Seward Peninsula to {{convert|7.5|C-change|||}} cooler in the Yukon. In the driest and coldest periods of the Late Pleistocene, and possibly during the entire Pleistocene, moisture occurred along a north–south gradient with the south receiving the most cloud cover and moisture due to the air-flow from the North Pacific.

In the Late Pleistocene, Beringia was a mosaic of biological communities.Hoffecker JF, Elias SA. 2007 Human ecology of Beringia. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.Elias SA, Crocker B. 2008 The Bering land bridge: a moisture barrier to the dispersal of steppe-tundra biota? Q. Sci. Rev. 27, 2473–83Brigham-Grette J, Lozhkin AV, Anderson PM, Glushkova OY. 2004 Paleoenvironmental conditions in Western Beringia before and during the Last Glacial Maximum. In [https://web.archive.org/web/20190302143155/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a4bc/f8071a76de2c9c3e356fa09dd0fefbcdc39a.pdf Entering America, Northeast Asia and Beringia Before the Last Glacial Maximum (ed. Madsen DB), pp. 29–61. Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah Press] Commencing from {{c.|57,000}} YBP (MIS 3), steppe–tundra vegetation dominated large parts of Beringia with a rich diversity of grasses and herbs.Sher AV, Kuzmina SA, Kuznetsova TV, Sulerzhitsky LD. 2005 New insights into the Weichselian environment and climate of the East Siberian Arctic, derived from fossil insects, plants, and mammals. Q. Sci. Rev. 24, 533–69. There were patches of shrub tundra with isolated refugia of larch (Larix) and spruce (Picea) forests with birch (Betula) and alder (Alnus) trees.Anderson PH, Lozhkin AV. 2001 The Stage 3 interstadial complex (Karginskii/middle Wisconsinan interval) of Beringia: variations in paleoenvironments and implications for paleoclimatic interpretations. Q. Sci. Rev. 20, 93–125 It has been proposed that the largest and most diverse megafaunal community residing in Beringia at this time could only have been sustained in a highly diverse and productive environment.Guthrie RD. 1982 Mammals of the mammoth steppe as paleoenvironmental indicators. In Paleoecology of Beringia (eds Hopkins DM, Matthews JV, Schweger CE, Young SB), pp. 307–24. New York: Academic Press

File:Beringia 20000bp duration of snow cover days 1.png

Analysis at Chukotka on the Siberian edge of the land bridge indicated that from {{c.|57,000|15,000|lk=no}} YBP (MIS 3 to MIS 2) the environment was wetter and colder than the steppe–tundra to the east and west, with warming in parts of Beringia from {{c.|15,000|lk=no}} YBP.Kuzmina SA, Sher AV, Edwards ME, Haile J, Yan EV, Kotov AV, Willerslev E. 2011 The late Pleistocene environment of the Eastern West Beringia based on the principal section at the Main River, Chukotka. Q. Sci. Rev. 30, 2091–2106 These changes provided the most likely explanation for mammal migrations after {{c.|15,000|lk=no}} YBP, as the warming provided increased forage for browsers and mixed feeders.{{cite journal|doi=10.1098/rspb.2013.2167|title=Faunal record identifies Bering isthmus conditions as constraint to end-Pleistocene migration to the New World|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=281|issue=1776|pages=20132167|year=2013|last1=Meiri|first1=M.|last2=Lister|first2=A. M.|last3=Collins|first3=M. J.|last4=Tuross|first4=N.|last5=Goebel|first5=T.|last6=Blockley|first6=S.|last7=Zazula|first7=G. D.|last8=Van Doorn|first8=N.|last9=Dale Guthrie|first9=R.|last10=Boeskorov|first10=G. G.|last11=Baryshnikov|first11=G. F.|last12=Sher|first12=A.|last13=Barnes|first13=I.|pmid=24335981|pmc=3871309}} At the beginning of the Holocene, some mesic habitat-adapted species left the refugium and spread westward into what had become tundra-vegetated northern Asia and eastward into northern North America.

File:Beringia 8000bp 2.png

The latest emergence of the land bridge was {{c.|70,000}} years ago. However, from {{c.|24,000|13,000|lk=no}} YBP the Laurentide Ice Sheet fused with the Cordilleran Ice Sheet; this event allowed gene flow between Beringia (and Eurasia) and continental North America.{{cite journal | last1 = Burns | first1 = J.A. | year = 2010 | title = Mammalian faunal dynamics in Late Pleistocene, Alberta, Canada | journal = Quaternary International | volume = 217 | issue = 1–2| pages = 37–42 | doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2009.08.003| bibcode = 2010QuInt.217...37B }}Gowan, E.J. (2013) An assessment of the minimum timing of ice free conditions of the western Laurentide Ice Sheet. Quaternary Science Review, 75, 100–13.{{cite journal | last1 = Rabassa | first1 = J. | last2 = Ponce | first2 = J.F. | year = 2013 | title = The Heinrich and Dansgaard-Oeschger climatic events during Marine Isotopic Stage 3:searching for appropriate times for human colonization of the America | journal = Quaternary International | volume = 299 | pages = 94–105 | doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2013.04.023| bibcode = 2013QuInt.299...94R | hdl = 11336/26736 | hdl-access = free }} The Yukon corridor opened between the receding ice sheets {{c.|13,000|lk=no}} YBP, and this once again allowed gene flow between Eurasia and continental North America until the land bridge was finally closed by rising sea levels {{c.|10,000|lk=no}} YBP.{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/jbi.12765|title=Whole mitochondrial genomes illuminate ancient intercontinental dispersals of grey wolves (Canis lupus)|journal=Journal of Biogeography|volume=43|issue=9|pages=1728|year=2016|last1=Koblmüller|first1=Stephan|last2=Vilà|first2=Carles|last3=Lorente-Galdos|first3=Belen|last4=Dabad|first4=Marc|last5=Ramirez|first5=Oscar|last6=Marques-Bonet|first6=Tomas|last7=Wayne|first7=Robert K.|last8=Leonard|first8=Jennifer A.|bibcode=2016JBiog..43.1728K |s2cid=88740690 }} During the Holocene, many mesic-adapted species left the refugium and spread eastward and westward, while at the same time the forest-adapted species spread with the forests up from the south. The arid-adapted species were reduced to minor habitats or became extinct.

File:High res mastodon rendering.jpg) became extinct around 12,000–9,000 years ago due to human-related activities, climate change, or a combination of both. See Quaternary extinction event and Holocene extinction.]]

The ecosystem of Beringia constantly changed as the changing climate affected the environment, and thus determined which plants and animals were able to survive. The land mass could be a barrier as well as a bridge: during colder periods, glaciers advanced and precipitation levels dropped. During warmer intervals, clouds, rain and snow altered soils and drainage patterns. Fossil remains show that spruce, birch and poplar once grew beyond their northernmost range today, indicating that there were periods when the climate was warmer and wetter. The environmental conditions were not homogenous in Beringia. Recent stable isotope studies of woolly mammoth bone collagen demonstrate that western Beringia (Siberia) was colder and drier than eastern Beringia (Alaska and Yukon), which was more ecologically diverse.{{cite journal |last=Szpak |first=Paul |title=Regional differences in bone collagen δ13C and δ15N of Pleistocene mammoths: Implications for paleoecology of the mammoth steppe | url=https://uwo.academia.edu/PaulSzpak/Papers/156300/Regional_differences_in_bone_collagen_13C_and_15N_of_Pleistocene_mammoths_Implications_for_paleoecology_of_the_mammoth_steppe |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |year=2010 |volume=286 |issue=1–2 |pages=88–96 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.12.009 |bibcode=2010PPP...286...88S |display-authors=etal}}

Grey wolves suffered a species-wide population bottleneck (reduction) approximately 25,000 YBP during the Last Glacial Maximum. This was followed by a single population of modern wolves expanding out of their Beringia refuge to repopulate the wolf's former range, replacing the remaining Late Pleistocene wolf populations across Eurasia and North America.

The extinct pine species Pinus matthewsii has been described from Pliocene sediments in the Yukon areas of the refugium.{{cite journal |last1=McKown |first1=A.D. |last2=Stockey |first2=R.A. |last3=Schweger |first3=C.E. |year=2002 |title=A New Species of Pinus Subgenus Pinus Subsection Contortae From Pliocene Sediments of Ch'Ijee's Bluff, Yukon Territory, Canada |journal=International Journal of Plant Sciences|volume=163 |issue=4 |pages=687–697 |url=https://www.academia.edu/404576 |doi=10.1086/340425|s2cid=86234947 }}

The existence of fauna endemic to the respective Siberian and North American portions of Beringia has led to the 'Beringian Gap' hypothesis, wherein an unconfirmed geographic factor blocked migration across the land bridge when it emerged. Beringia did not block the movement of most dry steppe-adapted large species such as saiga antelope, woolly mammoth, and caballid horses. Notable restricted fauna include the woolly rhino in Siberia (which went no further east than the Anadyr River), and Arctodus simus, American badger, American kiang-like equids, Bootherium and Camelops in North America, with the existence of Homotherium being disputed in Late Pleistocene Siberia. The lack of mastodon and Megalonyx has been attributed to their inhabitation of Alaska and the Yukon being limited to interglacials.{{Cite journal |last1=Stuart |first1=Anthony J. |last2=Lister |first2=Adrian M. |date=2012-09-19 |title=Extinction chronology of the woolly rhinoceros Coelodonta antiquitatis in the context of late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions in northern Eurasia |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379112002326 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=51 |pages=1–17 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.06.007 |bibcode=2012QSRv...51....1S |issn=0277-3791}}{{Cite web |title=Beringia: Lost World of the Ice Age (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/aps-v12-i2-c8.htm |access-date=2022-06-09 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last1=Blinnikov |first1=Mikhail S. |last2=Gaglioti |first2=Benjamin V. |last3=Walker |first3=Donald A. |last4=Wooller |first4=Matthew J. |last5=Zazula |first5=Grant D. |date=2011-10-01 |title=Pleistocene graminoid-dominated ecosystems in the Arctic |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027737911100206X |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=30 |issue=21 |pages=2906–2929 |bibcode=2011QSRv...30.2906B |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2011.07.002 |issn=0277-3791}} However, ground sloth eDNA has potentially been recovered from Siberia.{{Cite journal |last1=Courtin |first1=Jérémy |last2=Perfumo |first2=Amedea |last3=Andreev |first3=Andrei A. |last4=Opel |first4=Thomas |last5=Stoof-Leichsenring |first5=Kathleen R. |last6=Edwards |first6=Mary E. |last7=Murton |first7=Julian B. |last8=Herzschuh |first8=Ulrike |date=July 2022 |title=Pleistocene glacial and interglacial ecosystems inferred from ancient DNA analyses of permafrost sediments from Batagay megaslump, East Siberia |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/edn3.336 |journal=Environmental DNA |language=en |volume=4 |issue=6 |pages=1265–1283 |doi=10.1002/edn3.336 |issn=2637-4943}}

File:Map_of_gene_flow_in_and_out_of_Beringia.jpg

{{Excerpt|Ancient Beringian|paragraph=1,2|file=0|hat=no}}

File:Peopling of America through Beringia.png, separating the Cordilleran and Laurentide ice sheets. Also indicated are the locations of the Clovis and Folsom Paleo-Indian sites.]]

{{Excerpt|Settlement of the Americas|only=paragraph|paragraph=1,3|hat=no}}

Around 3,000 years ago, the progenitors of the Yupik peoples settled along both sides of the straits.{{cite web | title=A Study of the Yupik People | website=Kibin | url=http://www.kibin.com/essay-examples/a-study-of-the-yupik-people-AkpEcW1B | access-date=Feb 21, 2023}} The governments of Russia and the United States announced a plan to formally establish "a transboundary area of shared Beringian heritage". Among other things this agreement would establish close ties between the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve and the Cape Krusenstern National Monument in the United States and Beringia National Park in Russia.{{cite news | title=Ancient land of 'Beringia' gets protection from US, Russia | newspaper=NBC News | url=http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/21/13941998-ancient-land-of-beringia-gets-protection-from-us-russia?lite | author=Llanos, Miguel | date=21 September 2012 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923070230/http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/21/13941998-ancient-land-of-beringia-gets-protection-from-us-russia?lite | archive-date=23 September 2012 }}

File:Geodispersal_at_Bering_Land_Bridge.png period (~80Ma).{{cite web | title=Fig. 1. Biogeographic connections of the Beringian region through time... | website=ResearchGate | url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Biogeographic-connections-of-the-Beringian-region-through-time-adapted-from-Sanmart-in_fig1_306339486 | access-date=2023-02-21}}]]

Biogeographical evidence demonstrates previous connections between North America and Asia. Similar dinosaur fossils occur both in Asia and in North America.{{cite web | last=Hunt | first=Katie | title=Arctic dinosaur may have crossed between Asia and America to dominate the north | website=CNN | date=May 6, 2020 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/06/world/arctic-dinosaur-edmontosaurus-scn/index.html | access-date=Jan 17, 2023}} The dinosaur Saurolophus was found in both Mongolia and western North America.Norell, M. 2019. [https://doi.org/10.7208/9780226622866-053 SAUROLOPHUS OSBORNI. The World of Dinosaurs: An Illustrated Tour]. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 218-219. Relatives of Troodon, Triceratops, and Tyrannosaurus rex all came from Asia.{{cite journal | last=Fiorillo | first=Anthony R. | title=Dinosaurs of Arctic Alaska | journal=Scientific American | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=23 | issue=2s | date=2014-05-05 | issn=1936-1513 | doi=10.1038/scientificamericandinosaurs0514-54 | pages=54–61}}{{cite journal | last=Fiorillo | first=Anthony R. | title=The Dinosaurs of Arctic Alaska | journal=Scientific American | publisher=Scientific American, a division of Nature America, Inc. | volume=291 | issue=6 | year=2004 | issn=0036-8733 | jstor=26060803 | pages=84–91 | doi=10.1038/scientificamerican1204-84 | pmid=15597984 | bibcode=2004SciAm.291f..84F | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/26060803 | access-date=2023-02-21}}

The earliest Canis lupus specimen was a fossil tooth discovered at Old Crow, Yukon, Canada. The specimen was found in sediment dated 1 million YBP, however the geological attribution of this sediment is questioned. Slightly younger specimens were discovered at Cripple Creek Sump, Fairbanks, Alaska, in strata dated 810,000 YBP. Both discoveries point to the origin of these wolves in eastern Beringia during the Middle Pleistocene.

Fossil evidence also indicates an exchange of primates and plants between North America and Asia around 55.8 million years ago.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/news.2008.637|title=How primates crossed continents|first=Emma|last=Marris|date=March 3, 2008|journal=Nature|via=www.nature.com|doi=10.1038/news.2008.637}}{{cite journal | last1 = Jiang | first1 = Dechun | last2 = Klaus | first2 = Sebastian | last3 = Zhang | first3 = Ya-Ping | last4 = Hillis | first4 = David M | last5 = Li | first5 = Jia-Tang | title = Asymmetric biotic interchange across the Bering land bridge between Eurasia and North America | journal = National Science Review | date = 15 March 2019 | volume = 6 | issue = 4 | pages = 739–745 | issn = 2095-5138 | eissn = 2053-714X | doi = 10.1093/nsr/nwz035 | pmid = 34691929 | pmc = 8291635 | url = }} 20 million years ago, evidence in North America shows the last natural interchange of mammalian species. Some, like the ancient saber-toothed cats, have a recurring geographical range: Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America. The pattern of bidirectional flow of biota has been asymmetric, with more plants, animals, and fungi generally migrating from Asia to North America than vice versa throughout the Cenozoic.

• Bering Strait crossing
• Bluefish Caves
• Little John (archeological site)
• Geologic time scale
• Last glacial period
• Paleoshoreline
• Peopling of the Americas
• Pleistocene
• Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre

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{{refend}}

• {{Commons-inline}}
• [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/new-beringia-map-1.4999523 CBC News: New map of Beringia 'opens your imagination' to what landscape looked like 18,000 years ago]
• [https://www.nps.gov/subjects/beringia/index.htm Shared Beringian Heritage Program]
• [http://www.beringiapark.ru/about-park.html International National Park in the Bering Strait]
• [https://www.nps.gov/bela/index.htm Bering Land Bridge National Preserve]
• [http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/arch/beringia.html#top D.K. Jordan, "Prehistoric Beringia"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225113224/http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/arch/beringia.html#top |date=2008-12-25 }}
• [https://archive.today/20121205011143/http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/paleo/parcs/atlas/beringia/lbridge.html Paleoenvironmental atlas of Beringia:] includes animation showing the gradual disappearance of the Bering land bridge
• [http://www.beringia.com/ Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20041212105840/http://www.geo.umass.edu/projects/chukotka/berhome.html Paleoenvironments and Glaciation in Beringia]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120313061401/http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/02/13/beringia-native-american-02.html Study suggests 20000 year hiatus in Beringia]
• [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-humans-came-to-americas-180973739/ The Fertile Shore]

{{Continents of Earth}}

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{{Submerged landmasses}}

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Category:1930s neologisms

Category:Historical geology

Category:Ice ages

Category:Last Glacial Maximum

Category:Pleistocene

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Category:Bering Sea

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