Causes and Consequences of Pleistocene Megafaunal Extinctions as Revealed from Rancho La Brea Mammals

The fossils preserved in the Rancho La Brea “tar” seeps in southern California span the past ∼50,000 years and provide a rare opportunity to assess the ecology of predators (e.g., the American lion, sabertooth cats, cougars, dire wolves, gray wolves, and coyotes), including clarifying the causes and consequences of the terminal Pleistocene extinction event. Here, a multi-proxy approach elucidates dietary responses of carnivorans to changing...