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Paul Schultz Martin (born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, 1928 – died in Tucson, Arizona September 13, 2010 ) was a well known American geoscientist at the University of Arizona. He developed the theory that the worldwide pleistocene extinction was caused by over hunting humans. (1) His work bridged the hardworking fields of ecology, anthropology, geo-sciences, and paleontology. (2)

In 1953, Martin received his bachelor’s degree in zoology from Cornell university. In 1953 and 1956 he completed his master’s and doctorate programs at the university of Michigan and then proceeded with postdoctoral research at the Yale university and the university of Montreal. Martin’s early interest embraced ornithology (birds) and herpetology (reptiles and amphibians). He conducted extensive fieldwork from 1948 to 1953 in Tamaulipas, Mexico. (3)(4) He is considered a pioneer in these areas.

Paul published biogeographys on the birds of the Sierra de Tamaulipas, (5) and the herpetofauna of the Gómez Farias region of Tamaulipas. Unfortunately, while doing his under grad work. He contacted a case of polio. It did not hold him back. In 1957, he joined the faculty of the University of Arizona, and worked there until his retirement in 1989.

Overkill hypothesis:
The overkill hypothesis was proposed in 1966. (6) The paper, published in the journal of Nature. (7) Wrote: “The chronology of the extinction — first in Africa, second in America, finally in Madagascar — and the intensity of the extinction — moderate in Africa, heavier in America, and extremely heavy in Madagascar … seems clearly related to the spread of human beings, to their cultural development, and to the vulnerabilities of the faunas they encountered.”
Around 13,000 and 11,000 years ago he theorized newly arriving humans hunted to extinction north America’s ice age large mammals, including ground sloths, (8) camels, (9) mammoths and mastodons (10), and many other. The theory, was summarized for a scientific audience in 1973; and again summarized in: Twilight of the Mammoths: Ice Age Extinctions and the Rewilding of America, 2005. Thus controversial and widely examined in academic papers. (11)

Archaeologists Louis Leakey, Donald Grayson, and geosciencest Russell Graham were early critics of the theory (12)
The former focused on disagreements about human capabilities and expansions out of Africa. In geosciences, the focus was on the scale, speed, ecological effects, and biodiversity consequences of climate change, during the pleistocene glacial and interglacial periods. Which was also significant. Prior to Martin’s overkill idea, the mainstream scientific understanding of pleistocene and holocene extinction causes was climate change and significant events. (13)(14)

Martin later developed an ancillary hypothesis, or the “blitzkrieg model”. Focusing on the speed of human entry, and saturation of a frontier landscape (15)
Similar to the to the ideas of Russian climatologist Mikhail I. Budyko. (16) It relates the sudden demise of large mammal populations on different continents and at different times to the arrival of humans. Martin proposed that as humans migrated from Africa and Eurasia to Australia, the Americas, and the islands of the Pacific. The new arrivals rapidly hunted to extinction the large animals on each continent. And were also armed with newer, stronger and more lethal lithic projectiles.

Martin faced all kinds of criticism. Mainly, scientists claimed earlier dates for human arrival in the Americas. Or, later dates for certain extinct animals
He held his own, and maintained that such claims were the result of faulty scientific analysis. Pointing out that no such dates had yet been independently verified.

Back then, only several pre-clovis sites were accepted, by most workers too. They were mainly Topper, Monte Verde (17), Paisley Caves (18), and a few others

Rewilding:
Originator of the concept of pleistocene rewilding. (19)(20)(21) By establishing breeding populations of surviving animals from other continents such as llamas, camels, lions and cheetahs. And, introducing populations of animals analogous to extinct species, i.e., elephants for mammoths. Would allow extinct north American pleistocene fauna and environments to be restored.

He had already purposed in 1969 (9); and, 1970 (22) that that large mammal equivalents from Africa and Asia be introduced into western North America

In 1982, with help from others, they even purposed megafauna loss had co evolved
with particular plants, and in dispersing seeds Because large fruit seeds were not spit out or easily digested. They were deposited significant distances away from there source. Where they could regrow in fertile piles of dung. (23)

According to Vance Haynes, “unlike so many people who get infatuated with their own theories, Paul S Martin spent his professional career inviting criticism. He put together two critical conferences about Pleistocene extinctions, and the volumes that came out of those were pace-setting.” (24)

Cite: 1) Martin, Paul S (9 March 1973). “The Discovery of America”. Science. 179 (4077): 969–974.Bibcode:1973Sci…179..969M (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1973Sci…179..969M).doi:10.1126/science.179.4077.969 (https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.179.4077.969).
PMID 17842155 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17842155). S2CID 10395314 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:10395314).

2) Steadman, David W (January 2011). “Professor Paul Schultz Martin 1928–2010” (https://www.jstor.org/stable/bullecosociamer.92.1.33). Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. 92 (1): 33–46.doi:10.1890/0012-9623-92.1.33 (https://doi.org/10.1890%2F0012-9623-92.1.33).

3) Martin, Paul S. (1955). Herpetological Records from the Gómez Farias Region of Southwestern Tamaulipas, Mexico. Copeia 1955(3): 173-180.

4) Martin, Paul S. (1955). Zonal Distribution of Vertebrates in a Mexican Cloud Forest. American Naturalist 89: 347-361

5) Martin, Paul S., C. Richard Robins, and William B. Heed. (1954). Birds and Biogeography of the Sierra de Tamaulipas, an Isolated Pine-Oak Habitat.The Wilson Bulletin.Vol. 66, No. 1: 38-57

6) Weston, Phoebe (25 November 2022). “Humans v nature: our long and destructive journey to the age of extinction”(https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/25/cop15-humans-v-nature-our-long-and-destructive-journey-to-the-age-of-extinction-aoe). The Guardian. Retrieved 28 November 2022.

7) Martin, Paul S. (1966). “Africa and Pleistocene overkill” (https://web.archive.org/web/20201129160
700/http://max2.ese.u-psud.fr/epc/conservation/PDFs/HIPE/Martin1966.pdf) (PDF). Nature. 212(5060): 339–342. Bibcode:1966Natur.212..339M (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1966Natur.21
2..339M). doi:10.1038/212339a0 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F212339a0). S2CID 27013299 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:27013299). Archived from the original (http://max2.ese.u-psud.fr/epc/conservation/PDFs/HIPE/Martin1966.pdf) (PDF) on 2020-11-29.

8) Long, Austin; Martin, Paul S (15 November 1974). “Death of American Ground Sloths”. Science. 186 (4164): 638–640. Bibcode:1974Sci…186..638L (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1974Sci…1
86..638L). doi:10.1126/science.186.4164.638 (https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.186.4164.638).
PMID 17833721 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17833721). S2CID 206569040 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:206569040)

9) Martin, Paul S (February 1969). “Wanted: A Suitable Herbivore” (https://thegreatstory.org/paul-s-martin-1969-camels.pdf) (PDF). Natural History. 78 (2): 34–39. Archived (https://web.archive.org/we
b/20230404145007/https://thegreatstory.org/paul-s-martin-1969-camels.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 4 April 2023.

10) Amos Esty, Paul S. Martin. American Scientist. An interview with Paul S. Martin (http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/an-interview-with-paul-s-martin). Retrieved 2010-09-17. Archived
(https://web.archive.org/web/20110611164217/http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/an-interview-with-paul-s-martin) June 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine

11) Burney, David A; Flannery, Timothy F (July 2005). “Review: Fifty millennia of catastrophic extinctions after human contact” (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2005.04.022). Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 20 (7): 395–401. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2005.04.022 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.tree.2005.04.022). PMID 16701402 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16701402)

12) Grayson, Donald K; Meltzer, David J (May 2003). “A requiem for North American overkill”. Journal of Archaeological Science. 30 (5): 585–593. Bibcode:2003JArSc..30..585G (https://ui.adsabs.harv
ard.edu/abs/2003JArSc..30..585G). doi:10.1016/S0305-4403(02)00205-4 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0305-4403%2802%2900205-4)

13) Surovell, Todd A; et al. (26 October 2015). “Test of Martin’s overkill hypothesis using radiocarbon dates on extinct megafauna” (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4743775). PNAS.
113 (4): 886–891. doi:10.1073/pnas.1504020112 (https://doi.org/10.1073%2Fpnas.1504020112).
PMC 4743775 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4743775). PMID 26504205 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26504205).

14) Levy, Sharon (2011). Once and Future Giants. Oxford University Press. Pg. 20–26

15) Peter D. Ward, The Call of Distant Mammoths (https://books.google.com/books?id=E-JRXiFbcwkC&pg=140), Pg. 140, Copernicus, 1997

16) Budyko, M I (1967). “On the causes of the extinction of some animals at the end of the Pleistocene” (https://doi.org/10.1080/00385417.1967.10770945). Soviet Geography. 8 (10): 783–793 doi:10.1080/00385417.1967.10770945 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00385417.1967.1077094
5).

17) “Chilean Site Verified as Earliest Habitation of Americas; Findings Show Monte Verde Dates Back 12,500 Years”(https://web.archive.org/web/20131202232355/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/events/97/monteverde/dallas.html). National Geographic. Archived from the original (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/events/97/monteverde/dallas.html) on 2 December 2013.

18) Shillito, Lisa-Marie; et al. (15 July 2020). “Pre-Clovis occupation of the Americas identified by human fecal biomarkers in coprolites from Paisley Caves, Oregon” (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pmc/articles/PMC7363456). Science Advances. 6 (29): eaba6404. Bibcode:2020SciA….6.6404S
(https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020SciA….6.6404S). doi:10.1126/sciadv.aba6404 (https://doi.
org/10.1126%2Fsciadv.aba6404). PMC 7363456 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7
363456). PMID 32743069 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32743069)

19) Donlan, C Josh; et al. (17 August 2005). “Re-wilding North America” (https://rewilding.org/pdf/Pleis
tocene-Re-wildingNorthAmerica1.pdf) (PDF). Nature. 436 (7053): 913–914.
Bibcode:2005Natur.436..913D (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005Natur.436..913D).
doi:10.1038/436913a (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F436913a). PMID 16107817 (https://pubmed.ncb
i.nlm.nih.gov/16107817). S2CID 4415229 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4415229).
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20230404182640/https://rewilding.org/pdf/Pleistocene-Re-wildingNorthAmerica1.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 4 April 2023.

20) Donlan, C Josh; et al. (November 2006). “Pleistocene Rewilding: An Optimistic Agenda for Twenty-First Century Conservation” (https://smithpaleo.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Donlan-et
-al.-2006-Am-Nat.pdf) (PDF). American Naturalist. 168 (5): 660–781. doi:10.1086/508027 (https://
doi.org/10.1086%2F508027). PMID 17080364 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17080364).
S2CID 15521107 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:15521107). Archived (https://web.arch
ive.org/web/20230521154209/https://smithpaleo.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Donlan-et-al.-20
06-Am-Nat.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 2023-05-21.

21) Barlow, Connie (1997). Green Space, Green Time: The Way of Science. New York: Springer-Verlag. Pg. 132–140. ISBN 0-387-94794-9

22) Martin, Paul S (February 1970). “Pleistocene Niches for Alien Animals” (https://academic.oup.com/
bioscience/article-abstract/20/4/218/242487?redirectedFrom=fulltext). BioScience. 20 (4): 218–221 doi:10.2307/1295128 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1295128). JSTOR 1295128 (https://www.jst
or.org/stable/1295128). Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20230404172350/https://academic.
oup.com/bioscience/article-abstract/20/4/218/242487?redirectedFrom=fulltext) from the original on2023-04-04.

23) Janzen, D. H.; Martin, P. S. (1982). “Neotropical Anachronisms: The Fruits the Gomphotheres Ate”
(https://commonnaturalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/janzen-and-martin-1982.pdf) (PDF).
Science. 215 (4528). American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS): 19–27.
Bibcode:1982Sci…215…19J (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1982Sci…215…19J).
doi:10.1126/science.215.4528.19 (https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.215.4528.19). ISSN 0036-
8075 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0036-8075). PMID 17790450 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
gov/17790450). S2CID 19296719 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:19296719). Archived
(https://web.archive.org/web/20230404225855/https://commonnaturalist.com/wp-content/uploads/
2017/04/janzen-and-martin-1982.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 2023-04-04

24) Mari N. Jensen. Paul S. Martin, Pleistocene Extinctions Expert, Dies (https://web.archive.org/web/
20110323112916/http://uanews.org/node/34237). University of Arizona

Author Bibliography:
-Birds and Biogeography of the Sierra de Tamaulipas, an Isolated Pine-Oak Habitat. The Wilson Bulletin. Vol. 66, No. 1: 38-57. (1954);
-A Biogeography of Reptiles and Amphibians in the Gómez Farias Region, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Miscellaneous Publications, Museum of Zoology University of Michigan, No. 101: 1-102. (1958);
-Pleistocene Ecology and Biogeography of North America. pages 375-420: in Carl L. Hubbs (editor). Zoogeography. Publication No. 52. American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, D.C. x, 509 pp. (1958);
-Prehistoric Overkill. pages 75–120: in Paul S. Martin and H. E. Wright Jr. (editors), Pleistocene Extinctions: The Search for a Cause. Yale University Press. New Haven, Connecticut. 453 pp. (1967);
-Prehistoric Overkill: The Global Model. pages 354-403: in Paul S. Martin and Richard G. Klein (editors). Quaternary Extinctions: A Prehistoric Revolution. University of Arizona Press. Tucson, Arizona. 892 pp. (1989) ISBN 0816511004; and,
-Twilight of the Mammoths: Ice Age Extinctions and the Rewilding of America. University of California Press. xv, 250 pp. (2005) ISBN 0-520-23141-4.

Article bibliography:

Arizona Archives Online. “Paul S. Martin papers, 1910-2006”. Arizona Archives Online. University of Arizona.

MacPhee, Ross D. E. (2019). End of the Megafauna. New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN9780393249293.

Donlan, C Josh (June 2007). “Restoring America’s Big, Wild Animals” (https://www.jstor.org/stable/
26069309). Scientific American. 296 (6): 70–77. Bibcode:2007SciAm.296f..70D (https://ui.adsabs.
harvard.edu/abs/2007SciAm.296f..70D). doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0607-70 (https://doi.org/1
0.1038%2Fscientificamerican0607-70). JSTOR 26069309 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/26069309).
PMID 17663227 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17663227). Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20230408122413/https://www.jstor.org/stable/26069309) from the original on 2023-04-08

MacDonald, G M; et al. (12 June 2012). “Pattern of extinction of the woolly mammoth in Beringia”. Nature Communications. 3 (893). doi:10.1038/ncomms1881.

Martin, Paul S (9 March 1973). “The Discovery of America”. Science. 179 (4077): 969–974.

Surovell, Todd A; et al. (26 October 2015). “Test of Martin’s overkill hypothesis using radiocarbon dates on extinct megafauna” (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4743775). PNAS.
113 (4): 886–891. doi:10.1073/pnas.1504020112 (https://doi.org/10.1073%2Fpnas.1504020112).
PMC 4743775 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4743775). PMID 26504205 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26504205)

Zimmer, Carl (4 December 2024). “Mammoth: It’s What Was for Dinner” (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/science/mammoth-extinction-human-hunting.html?unlocked_article_code=1.hk4.Cc
Oq.sx_mLGODSXuc&smid=url-share). New York Times.

James C, Chatters; et al. (4 December 2024). “Mammoth featured heavily in Western Clovis diet”
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11616702). Science Advances. 10 (49). doi:10.1126/sciadv.adr3814 (https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fsciadv.adr3814). PMC 11616702 (https://
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11616702)