The location and intensity of the austral westerlies strongly influence southern hemisphere precipitation and heat transport with consequences for human society and ecosystems. With future warming, global climate models project increased aridity in southern mid‐latitudes related to continued poleward contraction of the austral westerlies. We utilize Antarctic ice cores to investigate past and to set the stage for the predictio...

DNA was extracted from five coprolites, excavated in Gypsum Cave, Nevada and radiocarbon dated to approximately 11 000, 20 000 and 28 500 years bp. All coprolites contained mitochondrial DNA sequences identical to a DNA sequence determined from a bone of the extinct ground sloth Nothrotheriops shastensis . A 157‐bp fragment of the chloroplast gene for the large subunit of the ribulosebisphosphate carboxylase ( rbcL ) was ampli...