Waves of animals died at an ancient Spanish lake and now we know why

By James Urquhart

Fossilised skeleton of Decennatherium rex, an past ancestor of giraffes

M. Martín-Perea et al, Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. (2021)

A clump of large, now-extinct mammals – including European ancestors of giraffes, primitive horses and sabre-toothed cervid – died 9 cardinal years agone astatine a watering spread successful Spain. Now, artificial quality and painstaking fossil analyses person helped lick the enigma of what happened to them.

“I similar to jokingly accidental we are similar transgression country investigators: When, however and wherefore did it happen?” says David Martín-Perea astatine the National Museum of Natural Sciences successful Madrid. “The lone quality is our …