North America (New Pleistocene)

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New Pleistocene
This page is a part of New Pleistocene, a collaborative project detailing the fauna of the next glacial period.

North America has become significantly drier during the New Pleistocene. Certain parts of North and Central America have become desert and scrublands. Though this drying of the continent has forced many of the animals of the west and even drove some into extinction, life is extremely biodiverse on this continent.

Western Scrublands[]

The North American Western scrubland is a scrubland covering parts of what is now the western region of The Great Plains. The western scrubland stretches from southwest Nevada (dry grassland) to Western Mexico(arid desert). This large category of land usually receives low levels of rain during dry season and large bushfires. Many descendants of domestic livestock exist here.

An interesting avian inhabiting most of the west is the Dust turkey, Meleagris deserto. A descendant of wild turkey, this galliforme is found in various locations across the scrubland, but is more commonly found in areas near and around what used to be Texas and Mexico. The turkey greatly resembles its ancestors, but is larger (standing about a meter tall). Every year they gather in small harems or bands that primarily consist of one or two males and three to five females; the males tend to have a bright blue waddles that scientist believe are used as a technique for attracting mates.
Deep in the heart of North America lives a small ungulate called the Brown gazelle, Gazella rubrum rubrum. A descendant of a gazelle species that escaped from a livestock ranch and established a wild population in Texas and Mexico and slowly spreading across most of North and South America.
A large beast inhabiting the western scrublands are the Spanish Aurochs, Bos primigenius toros. The Spanish aurochs is a descendant of Spanish fighting bulls and Texas longhorn that inhabit a range from Argentina to Arizona.
The Desert tapir, Tapirus desertii, is a species of native North American tapir that is evolved to live in arid conditions of the North American deserts. It has longer legs to better escape from native desert predators. It probably evolved from tapirs that lived from Texas.
The American white rhinoceros, Ceratotherium americanii, is another large beast, descended from escaped zoo white rhinos. Nothing much is changed about this species, other than adapting to feed on native scrubland plants of North America.
The biggest land animal of this ecosystem is the Western scrub elephant, Loxodonta nevadaii, a descendant of escaped zoo African elephants. The western scrub elephant is slightly smaller than its ancestors, due to the scarcity of plants it feeds on, but is still larger than the average-sized Asian elephant.
Another large bird that is scattered across the scrubland is the Aria rhea, Rhea harenarum. A descendant of the common rhea that probably spread upward to Central and North America.
The Shruggy boar, Sus harenarum is a descendant of feral pigs or razorbacks. It is much more herbivorous than it's ancestors, but in times of famine, will eat carrion and even cannibalize.
Burrowing domie, Canis cuniculis is a descendent of the Dachshund dog, they live in burrows, and hunt small and burrowing prey. These canids go into a torpor during times of hardship.
Among these desert animals, the Degnum sheep, Ovis gregem, which is a descendant of various Caribbean, African and European breeds of sheep that managed to survive the last World War. Like domestic sheep they travel in flocks, but these flocks are much looser and smaller to avoid predators.
The Western Cougar, Puma concolor concolor is a common large feline found throughout North and South America. In the western scrublands exists a western subspecies.
The Walkingman lizard, Sceloporus bipedis is a descendant of eastern fence lizards that have evolved to run on their hind legs to escape from their enemies, the fire ants. They have longer-stronger hind legs to run in large bipedal sprints and slightly shorter forelimbs.
The Bullyhound, canis fugent familiarsus, is a descendent of the domestic dog. With a head similar to the pitbull breeds and the long legged hounds known for hunting brown gazelles, shruggy boars, and spanish auroch. They are known for running down prey for much longer distances than the North American gray wolf.
A newcomer to the scrub lands is known as the Kukri toothed cat they come from the southern usa they are related to the clouded leopard this is a sub species of kukri toothed cat known as the scrub Kukri toothed cat. They are known to hunt spanish aurochs and bison. Unlike cheetahs they ambush their prey. But unlike the cougars they don't snap the neck of their prey, they pin down their prey and with a quick bite from their sabers. They are highly specialized unlike the cougars they compete with. The kukri toothed cat can hunt the largest and the most common prey.
Pseudosuricate: This mongoose evolved from invasive Asian mongooses that spread throughout mainland North America after the Caribbean Islands got connected to the mainland. It is found in the prairies and deserts of the Midwest and Western United States and northern Mexico where they evolve and behave convergent to southern Africa's meerkats of today.
False numbat: This mongoose evolved from invasive Asian mongooses that spread throughout mainland North America after the Caribbean Islands got connected to the mainland. It is an insectivorous mongoose that mainly eats ants and termites, just like the superficially similar numbat of Australia, they are found throughout the south and southwest of the USA and extends down to Mexico and Central America.
Western giant rattlesnake: A highly venomous rattlesnake that can grow up to 8 feet. This rattlesnake consumes bigger fauna like tapirs, brown gazelles, aurochs, and degnum sheep. It is an ambush predator and blends will within the orange ground. It often clashes with the mongooses, but due to its increased venom they have better matches than their previously relatives.

Eastern Alpine Forest[]

Many of the animals that were forced out of the Western scrubland, migrated here to the eastern Alpine. A temperate forest that extends from Maine to Kentucky and ends at South Carolina. It snows regularly during October to early March. Many of the descendants of smaller domestic animals thrive here; as well as many of the successful animals that survived the last World War

Alpine lake in mission mountains by bitt

A descendant of a known and widespread animal is the Calico squirrel, Sciurus nigrum. A descendant of the eastern grey squirrel that evolved to forage and live in abandoned human settlements. This 1 meter long squirrel is the largest tree squirrel in the Northern hemisphere. It generally favors the American chestnut as it's main food source and primarily feeds and mates on the forest floor.
The American Black Bear, Ursus americanus is a familiar animal that has evolved to favoring climbing trees. It was one of the more successful of the megafauna, because of it's adaptable diet, smaller size and partially to it's semi-arboreal lifestyle.
Besides from fauna, an interesting plant that evolved to live in the alpine of the eastern part of North America is the American giant bamboo, Gigantochloa americanus. A descendant of giant bamboo that was introduced by human beings during the Holocene, American giant bamboo grows in large groups in certain moist and temperate areas of North America.
The Grey panda, Pedefelis zhúshí is a descendant of raccoon that evolved to take advantage of the hardy American giant bamboo. They evolved stronger arms and teeth that allow them to break off weaker bamboo stalks, though they don't exclusively feed on bamboo; they are known to feed on small animals, eggs and fruit.
Despite being confined to Alaska during the Holocene, musk oxen gave rise to the Wood ox, Ovibos silvae. A branch of musk ox branched off and evolved to live in the temperate forests, it lost a majority of its shaggy coat for a shorter-curly coat.
The Eastern forest elephant, Elephas maximus americanus, is a descendant of Asian elephants that escaped from zoos and is native to forests of eastern United States. It has thicker coat of fur than modern Asian elephants due to the eastern forests being colder than in Asia. The eastern forest elephants are responsible for spreading some species of native trees of the eastern forests as they feed on them.
The oddest native ungulate of the eastern forests of North America is the Forest tapir, Tapirus yorkii. It is descended from tapirs that have spread from Central America and evolved to live in the North American forests, by evolving thicker coat of fur, slightly thicker than modern mountain tapirs, and adapt to feed on native leaves, shrubs, and fruit of North America.
Forest domie, Canis saltus are a small, social (But not having wolf-like packs) descendant of Beagles. These are small generalized carnivores that are more at home in the forest then open pastures, yet inhabit both. Because of this, they are successful continually, instead of the ups and downs of other species faced with temperature.
The Short-faced ferret or Mustela ferretus borealis is a large descendant of the domestic ferret, that were most likely abandoned by their owners during the start of the Last World War. This animals feeds on a variety of foods, including bird eggs, rodents, small lizards and snakes and a variety of fish.
The American common pheasant, Phasianus colchicus americanus is a subspecies of common pheasant and is descendant of common pheasants that were introduced from Asia as a game bird. They haven't evolved much from their pheasant ancestors, as the environment hasn't favored it to evolve.
The Common Starling, Sturnus vulgaris is a small bird inhabiting most of North and South America. It originally came from the Europe and quickly spread as an invasive species. Its eggs are favored by short-faced ferrets, because they are relatively more common to find than other birds.
The White-tailed Deer, Odocoileus virginianus is a medium-sized cervid found across the eastern alpine and Rocky Mountains. It is one of the most common deer species in North and South America.
The American monkey, Cebus americanus is the descendant of capuchin monkeys that migrated across central America during the warming period and survived into the glacial period.
American macaque: After the Last World War, a few thousand Japanese macaques were thriving in Texas. However, as Texas became dryer and dryer the macaques were forced east into the North American East Coast. Here, they evolved into a new species known as the American Macaque (Macaca americanus). These macaques feed mostly on fruits and insects, although they'll also eat carrion, eggs, American bamboo leaves and small vertebrates. Like their ancestors, American Macaques are very social primates.
Savannah mongoose: Also known as the crab-eating mongoose. A coastal species, this mongoose evolved from invasive Asian mongooses that spread throughout mainland North America after the Caribbean Islands got connected to the mainland. It evolved webbing on the paws to allow it to swim through the cordgrass estuarine marsh environment and as their names imply, they are found in the forests on the coastlines and have a diet consisting of crustaceans, bird eggs, small reptiles, and molluscs.
Herpestozibeth: This mongoose evolved from invasive Asian mongooses that spread throughout mainland North America after the Caribbean Islands got connected to the mainland. About the size of a red fox, this species evolved to be similar to the related civets. They are generalist carnivores that spend time in trees or on the ground.
Short-haired wolf (Canis Latrans Acutis)- A descendant of the coyote and not a wolf at all. These coyotes are slightly bigger, more carnivorous, and are more social, they are very successful because they model their pack after African painted dog, upbringing the weak ones. They mostly prey on white tailed deer, Eastern giant pheasants, mule deer, but will also feed on anything else they can catch.
Eastern Giant Pheasant (Phasianus Easternus Giganteus): The eastern giant pheasant is a pheasant that due to expanded resources grew much larger. They can grow up to be the height of a very tall peacock or a short rhea. They are capable of defending themselves but they prefer to run away. They are flightless. They can run at 14 mph. It’s diet is mostly plant matter, but it will consume small mammals including ferrets and mongooses.
- Dismal Alligator (Alligator Missipiensis Virginianus): The dismal alligator were American alligators that due reintroduction camps and the disappearance of humans in the area managed to rapidly expand throughout the area. They are similar to their ancestors but are slightly bigger with males being able to grow up to 14.3 feet and females to 12 feet. The longest was 17.7 feet. They eat Deer, mule and white-tailed, giant pheasants and waterfowl, calico squirrels, and tapirs. They prey more on terrestrial mammals than fish. They often clash with Jaguars but since they have reinforced scales they have better matchups. The reinforced scales also protect them from cold weather so they can extend up all the way to the Hudson River.
- The Eastern Mule Deer, Odocoileus Hemionus Easternus, various mule deer escaped sanctuaries, zoos, hunting ground and whatever and slowly adapted to a more forested lifestyle, they haven’t changed size but they have grown slightly smaller antlers than their ancestors, still bigger than White tailed antlers. Mule deer and white tail range barely overlap so cross breeding and competition are rare.

Rocky Mountains[]

A major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 4,830 km from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States. Within the North American Cordillera, the Rockies are somewhat distinct from the Pacific Coast Ranges and the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada which all lie farther to the west.

Rock foxes, Vulpes petram which are red fox descendants that show multiple adaptations for rocky terrain, and are smaller then their ancestors; similar in size to a fennec fox, it is perhaps a few kg more massive.
Mountain sheep, Oreamnos montem are descendants of rocky mountain goats. These lower-land creatures are less adapted to mountain life, thought are overall similar. However, they are smaller and hornless.
Rocky alpaca, Vicugna petris. Despite its name it is not directly descended from the alpaca (though may have in some point in it's evolution hybridized with alpacas); it is actually a descendant of vicuña that migrated through central America and reached North America.
Rocky Mountain ferret, Mustela ferretus rockus are descendants of short-faced ferret evolved to live in the rocky mountain range. They are very similar to their descendants though they have a shorter muzzle-length.
The Mountain chucker or Marmota jordanis are smaller descendants of groundhogs that inhabit the rocky mountains. They are one of the food sources that the rocky mountain ferret relies on, though it's is more aggressive towards mountain ferrets, so the ferrets go after another prey animal.
The Rock rat, Rattus inmonte is a descendant of the brown rat introduced by European settlers. It has gone through noticeable changes during its evolution on the rocky mountains. They are the main prey source of the rocky mountain ferrets.
The Mountain cat, Felis corvanus are descendants of Maine coon cats, that inhabit various areas of the Rocky Mountains. Their primary diet consists of rock rats, birds and large insects.
American killer hog (Sus scrofa cibum comedentis) is a relative of the modern day feral pig with longer tusks and known for hunting in pairs of in large groups the American killer hog. Also known for not just being in the Mountains but all a cross North America.
Northern mongoose: This mongoose evolved from invasive Asian mongooses that spread throughout mainland North America after the Caribbean Islands got connected to the mainland. It is among the most abundant, they evolved fur to adapt to the cooler north with their range expanding up to southern Canada.
Lesser burbot Lota minor is a descendant of the American burbot, a benthic freshwater fish species which used to be an important commercial fishery species as food for humans and for it's fish oil. Due to had been suited for living in colder waters and being occasionally reintroduced into freshwater by humans A.burbot's progeny has managed to survive into Great Pleistocene. L. burbot is smaller than it's ancestor, lives mainly in lakes and also has developed minimal caring behavior for it's eggs by hiding them inside little dark pockets among the lake sludge.
Lesser Mountain Wolf a descendant of the northern Rocky Mountain wolf, these wolves actually got smaller, only growing up to 2 feet in height and 4-5 feet in length, about the size of an eastern wolf. Even though there are small they make up in their large hordes of up to 35 members. They can eat anything if they have the numbers for it. They have a white underbelly and a dark grey/black back, they can be leucistic and melanistic. They are very adaptable, ranging all over the Rocky Mountains, together they will anything making them an efficient apex predator. Alone they will hunt ferrets, chuckers, or Rocky Mountain hyraxes, they are great diggers digging mice out of burrows.

Northern Great Plains[]

A savannah stretching from Montana to Alaska and some of what was formerly Canada. This savannah ecosystem is supported by the largest megafauna of North America.

Plains bison, Bison bison is a species of bison found in large herds across the plains, including the Northern Great Plains. Same species alive today.
Tundra bison, Bison northern is a species of giant bison found in large herds across the Northern plains. They are similar in size to both the extinct steppe wisent and gaur and are the largest bovid in North America. Besides from that tundra bison are very similar to the plains bison.
Eastern plains-ox (Neuceratherium americanum) - A descendant of muskoxen that migrated to the grasslands of the United States. They have somewhat shorter fur than their ancestors, due to living in a slightly warmer environment, but not too warm, making them resemble the prehistoric shrub-oxen Euceratherium of the prehistoric times.
Mountain camels, Camelus moutanus are large domestic Bactrian camel descendants. It shows many adaptations for living on an open grassland.
Mustang Horse, Equus ferus caballus are large horse inhabiting North America. It was introduced by humans long ago before the Last World War, but managed to survive both persecution by human beings and the extreme effects on the environment after the Last World War. It is similar to modern mustang horses, but now only comes in one color similar to the wild ancestors of domestic horses.
Tundra mammoth, Mammuthus northern , is a species of mammoth, descended from woolly mammoths that were cloned by humans in the Holocene, that is found in large herds across the northern plains. They are similar in size to both the extinct Columbian mammoth and Deinotherium and are the largest land animals in North America.
Northern American lion is a subspecies of the new American lions. They will eat anything that moves they live in prides and males and females have extremely woolly coats and with fur between there paws the males have lost their manes because both sexes have large amounts of fur.
Arapaho gray wolf (Canis lupus monstrum), is a descendant of some subspecies of gray wolves that migrated to the northern great plains and interbred with some native subspecies of gray wolves and escaped sanctuary wolfdogs, forming a new subspecies of gray wolf. They range from dark brown, gray, white and black. They stood 3ft tall and over 7ft. in length. They have thick coats to protect themselves against the cold. They are rivals to the American wild dog (Lycaon pictus americanus), a descendant of African wild dogs that escaped from zoos or safari parks.
The Northern Kukri cat (Protosmilodon borealis) it is on a similar evolutionary route as its relatives in North America. With stocky bodies with shorter tails and about the size of an African lion.
Plains Leopard: A descendant of clouded leopards, although they have gotten bigger they are still quite small compared to the other plains animals. Although they are small, they have a devastating bite of 2,800. They mainly prey on sick and young bison, young and sick ox, young mammoth, mustang horses, and camels. Their top speed is 46 mph. They stand at 1.8 feet.

Great Basin Desert[]

The Great Basin Desert is the largest US desert and covers 190,000 square miles. It is bordered by the Sierra Nevada Range on the west and the Rocky Mountains on the east, the Columbia Plateau to the north and the Mojave and Sonoran deserts to the south.

The Pilot's jackal, Canis gubernator is not a true jackal (not closely related to African jackals), but a jackal-like descendant of domestic dogs. It faces competition with the coyote and wolves, so it hunts in breeding pairs that mate for life.
The Ruminant deer, Dama ruminanus is a descendant of fallow deer introduced by humans during the Holocene. They live in small herds consisting of three to four members and in times of famine, they are known to migrate east.
The Death Valley camel, Camelus sonoranis are large descendants of dromedary camels that escaped during The Last World War. They have changed very little from their ancestors escape, due to their already great adaptations to desert life.
The Burro, Equus burro is a small donkey native to western parts of North America. Formerly classified as a breed of domestic donkey, it is now classified as an American species of Wild Ass.
The Death Valley jackrabbit (Lepus alexandra) is a species of a hare that lives in Death Valley where it eats moist plants and weed. This jackrabbit's predators are mountain lions, coyotes, and Pilot's jackals. They have been mistaken to be the closest relative of the antelope jackrabbit, but it has been discovered to be a relative of the black-tailed Jackrabbit
Sierra Nevadan dune lizard- a larger descendant of a sand fish, it is a keystone species because it makes large dunes and small canals for water to travel through in droughts, and their large holes leave space for animals to hide in during wildfires. They live in deserts and grassy plain areas. They eat animals like and mice, rabbits, and carrion.

Southern Pine Swamps[]

Florida and the rest of the eastern United states in our near Future shrunk in size and soon lost connection to the North American continent but after the time of humans in the new era which is currently in a ice age. made this new sub continent of the southern United states grow rapidly in size and many of the animals that were left on road side zoos and other domesticated animals were soon loose on the south

Suwannee-River-Wilderness-Trail contest MaryEllen-Cross Suwannee-River-Wilderness-Trail

The Bush wolf, canis venator lupus latrans, is a medium sized pack hunting omnivore that are descended from feral dogs, coywolves, and red wolves that hybridized with eachother, they are extremely social, and have been known be in packs as large as 49 individuals and are a tawny reddish tan with black markings around the muzzle.
The North American capybara, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris - A sheep-sized herbivorous rodent that lives in southern North America, They have changed not much because of their great adaptations to their life style.
The Florida sugar glider, Petaurus breviceps floridanus - Descended from sugar gliders that escaped from zoos and pet stores from nearby states and then migrated to Florida when it was connected to the rest of the USA. Sugar gliders mostly died, but thrive strangely in Florida. They are omnivores. They are similar to their ancestors.
Flatpine elephant - Elephas floridanus - A descendant of escaped zoo Asian elephants that live in Florida. It resembles a modern Asian elephant in general size and appearance, but is a browser instead of being mostly grazer, unlike Asian elephants, and fills the ecological niches left behind by the extinct American mastodon.
Swamp tapir - Tapirus floridanus - A descendant of tapirs that have spread to North America and established breeding breeding populations Florida. It resembles a modern South American tapir, but slightly bigger in size, about the size of a Baird's tapir.
Marsh deer - Odocoileus pastu - A descendant of the white-tailed deer, it evolved to swim better than it's predecessor. It closely resembles a white-tailed deer, but with smaller antlers and are more built for speed.
Southern American macaque - Macaca floridanus - After the Last World War, a few thousand rhesus macaques were thriving in Silver Springs Park, but have spread throughout Florida. They resemble modern rhesus macaques, but with longer tails and limbs, with broader feet better for swimming.
Marsh hyena - Crocuta marshii - A scavenger that roams the large expanses of grasslands, woodlands, and marshes of the south. They are relatives of spotted hyenas, but they are somewhat different from the African cousins, resembling more like stocky aardwolves than spotted hyenas. They are consumers of large carrion, they are slightly smaller than their ancestors. They have the tactic of swarming and getting the animal that made the kill away and then eating the kill as quick as they can and then consuming as much as they can, including bones. Most predators only consume only 50% percent of a kill, African lions will consume 70% of a kill, Marsh hyenas will consume 100% of a kill, and can even feed on eyes, ears, and internals of a Flatpine elephant or other carrion.
New North American jaguar - Panthera onca americana - A descendant of South American jaguars that made it to North America. They are larger than their relatives in South America and are known to take on much larger animals than themselves.
American Alligator - Alligator mississippiensis - A species of crocodilian native to southeastern United States. It hasn't changed much other than being more aggressive towards tegus and monitors to better protect their young from invasive large carnivorous lizards.
Florida monitor lizard - Varanus niloticus floridanus - Descended from the invasive Nile monitor. Due to the abundance of food, it is a highly adaptable known for swimming up and down large rivers.
Swamp tegu - Tupinambis virecta - Originating from the invasive tegu lizard, the swamp tegu has evolved a long body with short legs and webbed for swimming, and been known to climb large trees.
Florida python - Python floridanii - A species of python native to Florida. It is descended from invasive Burmese/rock python hybrids that were once invasive. It has evolved to feed mainly on fish and crustaceans to avoid competition from alligators.
Swamp hog Sus scrofa floridanus - A subspecies of wild hogs that have been known for only living in swamps and are commonly hunted by bush wolves.
Swamp mongoose: This mongoose evolved from invasive Asian mongooses that spread throughout mainland North America after the Caribbean Islands got connected to the mainland. It is not unlike the crab-eating mongoose, having evolved paw webbing to navigate through the water. Their diet consists of snails, eggs, lizards, snakes, small birds, and fish.
During the time of humans many zoos had risen bringing non native wildlife to the land and many are still there more adapted to the new landscape like the Neofelis nebulosa protosmilodon or more commonly as the Florida Kukri tooth cat with teeth the size of a banana. They are not the top predators of this land. Their ancestors the clouded leopard were highly skilled hunters and climbers and are manly living in trees. The top predator of this land is the American tiger Panthera tigris americanus known for killing full grown swamp elephants. Evolved from the cousins in Texas and other parts of the south. in the south its a mix of swamp, very dry sand and slash pine savannas, and dried up mangroves that go on for miles with saw grass plains in the middle and out skirts off it. With herds of Mustang Horses and a new arrival to the Americas. During the times of Humans they would take animals from different continents as pets or for zoos such as the Sawroo a relative to the Australian grey kangaroo known for living in large groups and eating saw grass with no consequences and using it as a protection from other animals. And the African plains Zebra and Wildebeest.The hole world had roads the roads in the USA have been mainly flooded and turned into rivers longer than the Nile all across the Continent but in the south some roads had made well roads for the animals so many herbivores use these roads as migration paths such as the flat pine elephant did a relative to the African elephant but there closer in size to the Palaeoloxodon with much smaller ears than there African cousins but travels and lives in much larger groups of 30 or even 40 living off of the flat pines.