 The species probably became extinct as the climatic shifts at the end of the last ice age led to widespread ecological alterations and prey scarcity, exacerbated by human hunting and increasing influence on habitat; generally, most large land animals disappeared and the altered precipitation patterns seriously affected populations of aquatic vertebrates.Despite being a better hunter than the Californian Condor, it still was inferior as a predator of small prey to hawks and eagles.The higher population density and more flexible diet of the condor probably ensured that it survived, while "T. merriami" did not.