ABSTRACT
Europe, especially Western Europe, has a limited range of large mammals that might be termed grazers. This is in part a consequence of its isolation to the south by the Mediterranean, restricting possible influxes of any part of the large African mammal diversity. It also reflects the extent to which the last glaciation swept most of the fauna out of northern Europe, restricting it either to southern refuges (notably Iberia, Italy and the Balkans) or pushing it well to the east. It also reflects, in part, the evident replacement of open habitats, extensive steppe and tundra, by equally extensive woodland in the post-glacial period, say 11,000 to 5,500 years ago. Only in the farmed landscapes created progressively since 5.5ka (kiloannum or thousand years ago) have grazing mammals recovered their dominance in the landscape, but those grazers are mostly introduced Middle Eastern species.
