Research overview: radiocarbon dating of late Pleistocene cats

This overview examines how radiocarbon dating is applied to the bones of late Pleistocene cats to reconstruct their chronologies and last appearances. Directly dating individual fossils of Smilodon, cave lions, American lions, and Homotherium allows researchers to determine when these predators lived and when they vanished, which is essential for testing extinction hypotheses. The survey reviews the methods of extracting and purifying collagen for accelerator mass spectrometry dating, the special challenges posed by contamination at asphalt sites like La Brea and by specimens near the limit of the technique, and the importance of well-dated series for establishing extinction timing. It discusses how robust radiocarbon chronologies underpin debates over the roles of climate and humans in the loss of big cats, and why dating quality is foundational to the entire field.