A changing climate, growing human populations and widespread fires contributed to the last major extinction event − can we prevent another?

New findings from the La Brea Tar Pits in southern California suggest human-caused wildfires in the region, along with a warming climate, led to the loss of most of the area’s large mammals.

Regan E. Dunn, Adjunct Professor of Earth Sciences, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences • conversation
Aug. 17, 2023 • ~8 min

Forensic evidence suggests Paleo-Americans hunted mastodons, mammoths and other megafauna in eastern North America 13,000 years ago

A forensic technique more often used at modern crime scenes identified blood residue from large extinct animals on spearpoints and stone tools used by people who lived in the Carolinas millennia ago.

Christopher R. Moore, Research Professor at the South Carolina Institute for Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina • conversation
June 14, 2023 • ~9 min

How we cracked the mystery of Australia's prehistoric giant eggs

A puzzle over the identity of an extinct bird that laid eggs across Australia has been solved.

Gifford Miller, Distinguished Professor of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder • conversation
Jan. 24, 2023 • ~8 min

Weasels, not pandas, should be the poster animal for biodiversity loss

Polar bears and wolves may get the glory, but small predators like weasels, foxes and their cousins play outsized ecological roles. And many of these species are declining fast.

David Jachowski, Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology, Clemson University • conversation
Dec. 5, 2022 • ~8 min

How bison, moose and caribou stepped in to do the cleaning work of extinct mammoths

The historical record is full of surprises – and it could encourage conservationists to think more creatively.

Maarten van Hardenbroek van Ammerstol, Lecturer in Physical Geography, Newcastle University • conversation
April 29, 2020 • ~6 min

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