The evolution of large mammal faunas during the Pleistocene of Europe has been widely investigated using taxonomical and/or ecological-functional categories, with special emphasis on the implications for reconstructing hominin dispersal and ecological role. Here, an ecospace modelling approach is for the first time applied to Pleistocene carnivorans of Europe. Examining ecospace occupancy and disparity through time effectively conveys major aspects of faunal dynamics, while offering new insights into species relationships from a trait-space-explicit perspective. Several replacements occurred within-family and concerned species of similar functional role, but between-family competition was also important, especially for hyaenids. When hominins first dispersed into Europe during the Early Pleistocene, carnivorans of middle size that are deemed either highly social active hunters or primarily scavengers were both lacking, a substantial ecospace vacuum that could have been filled by the newcomers. Hominins then became widespread since the Middle Pleistocene, when a decrease of ecospace density is documented. This suggests that adaptability, mainly behavioural for hominins, ecomorphological for other species, might have been key for survival, especially in the more unstable conditions encountered since the latest Early Pleistocene. The uncertainty in categorising the ecology of extinct species is a limitation shared with previous studies, but reducing this multidimensional problem to one ecospace facilitates addressing the main pattern and future assessment.

中文翻译：

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欧洲更新世大型食肉动物的生态空间占用和差异及其对古人类扩散和生态作用的影响

使用分类学和/或生态功能类别对欧洲更新世大型哺乳动物区系的进化进行了广泛研究，特别强调对重建古人类扩散和生态作用的影响。在这里，生态空间建模方法首次应用于欧洲更新世食肉动物。检查随时间变化的生态空间占用和差异有效地传达了动物群动态的主要方面，同时从性状空间显性的角度提供了对物种关系的新见解。科内发生了几次更替，并且涉及具有相似功能作用的物种，但科之间的竞争也很重要，特别是对于鬣狗而言。当古人类在更新世早期首次扩散到欧洲时，被认为是高度社会活跃的猎人或主要是食腐动物的中等体型的食肉动物都缺乏，巨大的生态空间真空本来可以由新来者填补。自中更新世以来，人类开始广泛传播，当时生态空间密度有所下降。这表明，适应性（主要是古人类的行为适应性和其他物种的生态形态适应性）可能是生存的关键，特别是在自最近的早更新世以来遇到的更加不稳定的条件下。灭绝物种生态学分类的不确定性是先前研究的一个局限性，但将这一多维问题简化为一个生态空间有助于解决主要模式和未来评估。