The Puppy Bowl scored its largest audience ever even as the Super Bowl slipped from last year, marking the ascent of dogs even as humans continue their sad march to extinction.

"Who's the master now?" puppies asked Tuesday, as Animal Planet announced that 12.4 million people watched 12 hours of its Puppy Bowl marathon. The Super Bowl, meanwhile, received a paltry 108.4 million viewers Sunday -- fewer than the 2011 and 2012 games.

Also read: Super Bowl Only Third-Most-Watched Show in U.S. TV History, Down From Past 2 Years [5]

Time to learn dog language, in other words. Humankind is finished.

Puppy Bowl IX brought in 2.6 million viewers during the game itself, an increase of 64 percent over last year's competition. It aired from 3-5 p.m., which is roughly 14 puppy hours.

It was hard not to see it as symbolism when half of the human-designed lights at the Superdome went out in the third quarter of the Super Bowl, delaying the game for 34 minutes. As a news release from the Puppy Bowl noted, the lights stayed on throughout the puppies' game.

Animal Planet said the Puppy Bowl also received more tweets than any other event Sunday, except for that other game.

Watch Puppy Bowl highlights and almost as much product placement as the Super Bowl had: