51�Թ�

Reichgelt, for example, notes that while all the paleoclimate proxy models that rely on comparisons of fossil plants to modern ones use leaf surface area as a measure of precipitation, increased water use efficiency resulting from higher atmospheric CO2, rather than more rain, could actually explain the observed larger leaf sizes during the Miocene.

He added, “If the recent climate change, even the last two centuries, were all that we had to go on, the inferred climate sensitivity would be less certain, but the paleoclimate data confirm our assessment. Our conclusions are well-founded, based on real-world data.”

So they did a gut check—they went hunting for excrement and vomit from the Polish Basin, a region of central Europe with an extensive record of fossil bones and paleoclimate data.

Carbon cycle models calibrated with paleoclimate datasets form the basis for scientists' understanding of the global marine carbon cycle and how it responds to natural perturbations.

But according to a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that pulls together fossil data, ancient DNA, and paleoclimate models, the ferocious beast likely met its end for the same reason that many other giant ice age animals died out: a combination of climate change and human hunting.