'Mother of all extinctions' took place before the dinosaurs died

The Independent (U.K.) ^ | 11/21/03 | Steve Connor

[Monti Cello]

Oh dear, another documented raping of Mother Earth

[rickmichaels]

Scientists believe they have found the "smoking gun" that points to a collision with a chunk of space rock...

I always wondered where that big black thing in Mecca came from.

[almcbean]

"Back then, most of the planet's landmass formed a giant supercontinent called Pangea".

By whom was it called Pangea- did they find a "Welcome to Pangea-watch for large meteorites" sign?

[Ronly Bonly Jones]

Pangea must be reunited and free! Liberate Gondwanaland!

[Poohbah]

And the mass extinction is Bush's fault, planned so that the dead critters would turn into oil so that Bush's cronies in the petroleum industry could pump it out of the ground 65 million years later.

NO IRIDIUM FOR OIL!

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

I have always believed these "scientists" have overactive imaginations.

[LiteKeeper]

YEC INTREP

[BobS]

God didn't want us too close to Europe, even then!

[BillF]

So when are the libs going to protest asteroids, instead of my SUV?

How about a bumper sticker for my Ford Expedition as follows:

Asteroids hurt the earth more than my SUV, maybe with a graphic showing a dinosaur getting hit by an asteroid?

[Map Kernow]

Don't tell me! Species extinctions are caused by human rapacity! [/sarcasm]

[NutCrackerBoy]

Welcome to Pangea-watch for large meteorites.

These periodic mass extinctions select for species that withstand catastrophic conditions. Since mankind will in future shoot huge meteorites out of the sky before they hit us, we will thereby reduce the hardiness of Earth life.

Cockroaches are none too happy about this.

[Mike Darancette]

Since mankind will in future shoot huge meteorites out of the sky before they hit us, we will thereby reduce the hardiness of Earth life.

Having the ability to shoot huge Meteorites from the sky before they the impact shows a very high level of hardiness.

[roadcat]

During the Permian period, the Earth teemed with strange and exotic life forms, such as giant sharks and reptiles, ancestral dinosaurs, seabed-dwelling creatures called trilobites, and lush prehistoric vegetation.

Estimates indicate that, during the Permian-Triassic (P-T) boundary, about 90 per cent of the marine species and 70 per cent of the land species vanished in the geological equivalent of an instant - the greatest of all the five mass extinctions that are recorded by the fossil record. Luann Becker of the University of California, Santa Barbara, a member of the team, said: "This was the mother of all extinctions. What makes it remarkable is that virtually all marine life and a good portion of land life-forms were eliminated in a very short period." Just as the demise of the dinosaurs allowed the rise of the mammals, the demise of the dominant species 251 million years ago allowed the dinosaurs to dominate the land.

I don't buy that! When the dinosaurs got wiped out, mankind's predecessors were furry little mammals that managed to hide out in little nooks and crannies and avoid the death visited on dinosaurs by the after-effects of the meteor impact. What was the dominant species before the dinosaurs? Big land-sharks? Were the dinosaurs at that time, little itty-bitty things hiding out in little nooks and crannies? So, given a couple hundred million years of evolution, will humans be 5-story lumbering giants of the land?

(BTW, the next mass extinction will be of liberals.)

[GeekDejure]

Having the ability to shoot huge Meteorites from the sky before they the impact shows a very high level of hardiness.

But only if we can program the debris to Zot! the liberals !!! ;-))

.

[Bernard Marx]

Pangea must be reunited and free! Liberate Gondwanaland!?

Stop Plate Tectonics!

[Holly_P]

[Holly_P]

I saw some excellent graphics once that showed the continental drifts over a 250M. year period but of course I can't find the link now.

[SteveH]

Perserve, cherish, and celebrate native Pangean cultures! Reparations for all oppressed Permians!! Respect for all ancient meteorite fragments!!!

[buffyt]

I wondered how long it would take before the blame was all laid at President Bush's feet. He is the source of all evil, dontchya know.....