I'm still digesting the full paper [1] but it looks like the gist is that when you put all the previously published data together, the timing of megafauna extin

I'm still digesting the full paper [1] but it looks like the gist is that when you put all the previously published data together, the timing of megafauna extinction statistically lines up with human arrival better than climate change. The most important pieces of evidence they seem to look at is fungal spores in fossilized poop and sedimentary ancient DNA: > Further, other studies show contrasting patterns. For example, a sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) study from the Yukon shows strong megafauna decline between 21 and 14,500 years ago, prior to the loss of the mammoth steppe biome and the Younger Dryas. In addition, as already mentioned, many extinct megafauna species have last occurrences in the Early or even Middle Holocene, that is, during the relatively stable climate of the Holocene, meaning that a climatic cause for their extinction is unlikely given their previous survival through numerous, massive climatic shifts throughout the Pleistocene, including long and warm interglacial periods. > An increasing number of studies look at local and regional dynamics in the overall abundance of large herbivores at high spatiotemporal resolution using dung-associated fungal spores. Many of these are able to pinpoint declines to timeframes where the climate was stable, for example, North America ~14–13,000 years ago, prior to the Younger Dryas cooling, and 41,000 years ago in Australia at a time of no substantial climate change These techniques are still very new and they're so sensitive that they should be taken with a grain of salt, sedaDNA especially since it amplifies tiny snippets of DNA found in permafrost. We assume permafrost behaves like an annually laminated sediment but that's controversial and archaeology/paleontology have had plenty of problems before with DNA snippets and contamination. [1] https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-prisms-extinction/article/latequaternary-megafauna-extinctions-patterns-causes-ecological-consequences-and-implications-for-ecosystem-management-in-the-anthropocene/E885D8C5C90424254C1C75A61DE9D087 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-prisms-ext...