What killed the mammoths and other behemoths?

FR Post 6-6-2 | Interview with Ross MacPhee

[vannrox]

I really doubt this. I am siding with the "Punctuated equilibrium" variant of catastrophism. Check out "Voice of the Rocks" by Robert Schoch.

[afraidfortherepublic]

FYI bump

[remaininlight]

*******

[blam]

Bump for read later tonight.

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

The climate has changed radically at times when there was no extinction, and extinctions have occurred when the climate, at least roughly speaking, should have been benign. There is no question that there were catastrophic changes in temperature and probably in precipitation on many occasions in the past 100,000 years. We know that, for entirely natural reasons, temperature excursions of seven to 12 degrees Celsius occurred within that time period in the space of a century or less, which is basically 12 times the maximum rate of change in the last century of "global warming."

Global Warming is a Fraud Biggiddy Bumpiddy to the Tippiddy Toppiddy.

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

btw, do you have a link?

[chilepepper]

I think it was their body odor that did it...

[r9etb]

I really doubt this.

Me too. The problem as I see it is that humans were not present in large enough numbers to pass these diseases on over such a large area -- it breaks down for the same reason that he gives for the over-hunting hypothesis.

Not that it's completely out of line, however: the American Indians were practically wiped out within a few decades by various "pox" diseases.

[scouse]

extremely lethal disease, brought over by humans

Of course...of course...it had to be humans. I can't for the life of me understand why I didn't see it before.

[Black Agnes]

I'm sceptical, but not entirely disbelieving of this. The humans wouldn't necessarily have had contact with all the animals. Just infect a few, who roam within their habitats, and infect others. Just like the Spaniards didn't travel all the way into the Continental US, but smallpox certainly did via trade routes. Good book on this subject btw...

Armies of Pestilence

[Barbie Doll]

Over 100 specie of flora and fauna go extinct everyday.

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

What killed the mammoths and other behemoths?

we all know drilling for oil in alaska killed them

[Black Agnes]

Yes, it was humans. However, this might put the lie to the whole myth of the benevolent natives who did nature no harm until the white man appeared...On the downside, it would appear to assist the 'humans are evil no matter what' VHEMT goobers.

[Black Agnes]

Cite please. Facts. Name those flora and fauna!

[Billthedrill]

Well, it wasn't me. My mammoth gun was in the shop.

[Barbie Doll]

My university professor who taught Environmental Ethics said so, therefore, I cannot cite URL references. Sorry.

[Black Agnes]

So you're not an eco-wacko? Next time please put in a sarcasm so we know you're not a troll...:)

[Ole Okie]

Of course...of course...it had to be humans. I can't for the life of me understand why I didn't see it before.

It's simple.

Humans brought internal combustion engines, the exhaust of which warmed things so much that the ice age wooly mammoths sweat to death.

Or possibly mammoth flatulence (barf!) caused a greenhouse effect which heated things up so much the mammoths sweat to death.

Or.........whatever.

[Robert A Cook PE]

"SA: So, in your opinion, even if the first Americans were highly skilled hunters, could their population sizes and the population sizes of these animals have been such that overkill would even be plausible?

RM: The answer is no, by any scenario. I don't care how early you want people to get into the New World, thereís absolutely no evidence of a positive sort that they were there in huge numbers. In fact, it has to be the opposite, whereas the animals, in some cases, had distributions that were continent wide. Some of the ground sloths, for example, are known from as far south as Mexico and from as far north as the Yukon. The notion that people in whatever numbers and with whatever intent could have come in and slaughtered enough sloths in every possible habitat where they lived in numbers sufficient to cause their extinction--this is unbelievable to me.

Hell - He doesn't WANT to admit the possibility/probability that early man killed them off. (See, if that were so, then early man WASN'T the perfect little innocent twho loved nature and lived co-equally with until Columbus came along and polluted the whole continent with those evil, nasty, European capitalistic christian ideas of free enterprise.

I've seen the other figures that show easily that a small band, moving at less than 300-500 miles PER YEAR could kill every large animal population in only few thousand years (between the 12,000 BC arrival to the 9000 BC death. In doing so, they'ed only need kill a reasonable fraction of each population each year ... no more than done now in Africa by the early tribes there.