News Headline
Climate change—not humans—killed giant camels and sloths in South America
Source
Science Magazine
Publication Date
2016-08-04
Humans and climate change were long the prime suspects in the disappearance of South America’s large mammals, which took place after the last glacial period, about 15,000 years ago. But a new study finds that humans may be off the hook―at least in the high Andes of Peru. The study suggests the extinction there happened in a one-two punch, with climatic instability landing the blows—not humans—who didn’t enter the ring until 3000 years later.