Throughout history, the world and its inhabitants have been subject to great change. Whether these changes are biological, ecological or geological they are all influenced by certain factors at play. Great changes take time to observe, usually longer than one's life would allow. The longer the change, the harder to identify the exact cause. When it comes to the species that inhabit the earth, it is notable that some species that lived and thrived long ago are now simply gone. The extinction of entire species of birds, mammals and amphibians occurs throughout time here on earth but the exact cause for their disappearance has been debated. In chapter two of "Twilight of the Mammoths" written by Paul S. Martin, the theories of extinction are challenged. …show more content…
With the introduction of radiocarbon dating the accuracy of which fossil and other samples can be determined are greatly increased. Radiocarbon dating promises to predict fossils within 50,000 years to be recorded with precision. With this advancement, the ability to thoroughly analyze extinction periods of certain species would greatly increase. This leads to a stronger understanding of precisely when these events took place and what their causes may be. Martin goes on to provide an example of the woolly mammoths that survived for thousands of years longer than previously believed on remote islands. With radiocarbon dating, it is now understood that populations of mammoths in certain locations were subject to a different rate of extinction. How could this be the case? Martin states, in reference to the mammoths that survived on remote islands that they, "were temporary refugia, bypassed by the first Americans."(Martin,50) Martin implies that the dramatic differences in the extinction of two populations of the same species is due to the involvement of human interactions during the early colonization of the Americas. This correlation is made when examining previous outbursts of extinctions across the world. One of these outbursts occurred around 13,000 years ago, the same time the extinction of mammoths became prevalent within the same regions of North America.(Martin,50) This shows that the difference in extinction periods between locations in North America and on various islands is differentiated by arrival of human populations. The extinction of the mammoths in North America 13,000 years ago, compared to mammoth on the islands of Wrangel 4,000 years ago conclude rapid human expansion of the Americas was the cause of earlier extinction
Living in the Paleolithic age must have extremely difficult. I just read the book Maroo of the Winter Caves , by Ann Turnbell. This book tells about Maroo and her family, This book tells a lot about how life was like back then. It's mainly about Maroo and her family having to travel from the winter caves, back to the autumn hunting grounds.While they try to travel back, they get into many obstacles that they have to over come, Mainly trying to overcome time and nature. Our life is extremely different today, then Maroo's life thousands of years ago, Some of these differences are the shelter we inhabit, the clothing we wear,
In this paper Martin is arguing that late quaternary or near time extinctions where caused by human activity or as he calls it “overkill”. Martin recognizes that there have been many forces that have triggered extinctions in the planet on the past but disagrees with the idea that near time extinctions where caused by some commonly believed causes like climate change, disease or nutrient shortage. He argues that the arrival of humans to different continents, islands and the subsequent excessive hunting, the introduction of diseases and other competitors and predators was the cause of extinction of a great number of species “As our species spread to various continents we wiped out their large
Ultimate freedom is an odyssey everyone, at least once in their lifetime, tries to conquer. Chris McCandless did everything in his power to try and capture that freedom he was searching for. He ultimately gave up his own life during that quest. Did he find what he was searching for? We may never know. Very many people have diverse opinions on this character. Chris McCandless was not selfish. He was a young, well-educated boy. His parents handed him everything on a silver platter; he wanted to prove not only to himself but to everyone else he could do things on his own. His possessions did not define who he was as a person. He thought towards everyone else he was just another brick in the wall, a pretty rich boy, and that did not “fly” with him. He had to prove his worth.
In, The Fate of the Earth by, Jonathan Schell, he starts with the extinction of dinosaurs then moves onto how it’s not possible to judge on human extinction. He also talks about how the extinction of animals and how we have learned from our mistakes. He states how we live, then we die. And how different catastrophes could kill everyone or how they could slowly become extinct from those catastrophes. He mainly talks about population and how the extinction of human beings and once we are extinct we are done.
The disaster theory, Gould claims, is an example of good science. It has testable evidence and has an impact on studies in other fields of science, it develops further and explains why the extinction of dinosaurs occurred simultaneously with other events. This theory suggests that a large comet hit the Earth sixty five million years ago, causing the cloud of dust to rise into the sky and to block sunlight. As a result, world temperatures went down significantly, the ice age bega...
Fossil records from 12,000 years ago show the appearance of the Large Mammals followed by Paleoindian in Eastern North America. Another piece of the fossil record shows that the appearance of Paleoindian brought about the disappearance of the large mammals. Some people feel that, "there is evidence to suggest that rapacious hunting practice of the paleohunters in North and South America 12,000 years ago may have caused…The demise of the very animals they hunted" (Powell 1987). The evidence Powell suggests is that the extinction of a large mammal is usually followed by the appearance of humans in the fossil record. This coincidence is not only seen in the fossil records of North and South America but Europe and Asia as well. Powell shows that as human populations increased local extinctions of large mammals occurred. This was probably due to the fact that there were not many predators that could hunt the large mammals except man. For this reason it is also highly like likely that man and large mammals did not co-evolve which ultimately resulted in the extinction of large mammals.
The question of what caused the extinction of megafauna during the Late Pleistocene period is one that archaeologists have struggled to answer for decades, but why should it matter? Discovering with certainty the cause of megafaunal extinction would simultaneously prove or disprove any of the proposed implications of each existing theory regarding this massive extinction.
The re-wilding of North America is basically a conservation strategy (Donlan 2005), aimed at restoring the Pleistocene era (Donlan 2005, Rubenstein et al. 2006). This could be achieved by reintroducing African and Asian megafauna, these species are phylogenetically known to be direct descendents of the extinct Pleistocene species or animals of similar taxa (Donlan 2005, Rubenstein et al. 2006). Re-populating North America is essential for both ecological and evolutionary potential (Donlan 2005) and also economic gain (Donlan 2005, Rubenstein et al. 2006). In this paper I will be discussing the main arguments presented by two papers regarding the Pleistocene North America re-wilding. The first paper is written by Donlan (2005), it is a commentary paper in which he proposes the plan of re-wilding North America based on his opinions. The second paper is by Rubenstein et al. (2006), it is a research paper where he outlines some facts contrary to Donlan (2005)’s paper, unlike Donlan (2005)‘s paper his arguments were supported by variety of recent Scientific published papers which are relevant to the topic discussed.
Rapidly evolving throughout the late Pleistocene to the early to mid Holocene, hunter-gatherer-fisher societies hunted megafauna creatures in a systematic and ethical way. When one species migrates to a different ecosystem, that species is not usually recognized as a threat to other species. Survival, during the late Pleistocene and Holocene era, was one of the most important aspects to life. Any organism, regardless of size, living within their environment had to stay alive and reproduce. During these two eras, it seems...
The book From the Deep Woods to Civilization is the story of Charles Eastman's journey from school and college to his careers in public service and as a medical practitioner. The book takes place from the 1870s to the early 1900s and portrays an important time in Native American history. An essential theme relates to how Eastman struggles with his identity in the way of having influences from two different cultures. Throughout the book, Eastman's identity shifts from being very different from his traditions, to being more in tune with his Dakota side.
Habitat destruction, deforestation, ozone depletion, global warming, and poaching. These actions and ecological happenings are creating a world where animals are going extinct at rapid rates. Our world is on the brink of what scientists believe is the sixth mass extinction. Unlike the five previous mass extinction, the latest one killing a majority of the dinosaurs, the main causes for this current extinction are anthropogenic reasons, not natural events.
Volcanic activity and climate changes are also probable theories. Large volcano eruptions would have caused massive areas to be covered in ash and lava disrupting the food and water supply. Volcanic activity could have also caused long term habitat changes resulting from the lava that flowed over the area. (J. David Archibald, 1030) Climate changes also could have contributed to extinction. The temperature could have gotten too hot or too cold, and the land could have gotten to wet or too dry for them to live. (J. David Archibald,
Ancestors are animals or forms of the animals that lived a long time ago. Relatives share common ancestors. For example, if you have cousins, one of your parents and one of their parents have the same father and mother, and the same grandparents, etc. A trait is a feature, such as a body part, like a tail. Elephants and wooly mammoths have similarities, or traits in common, such as they both had or have long trunks. The saber tooth tiger, on the other hand, is not believed to be closely related to tigers. Let’s explore extinct versus living things and how they relate to one another.
In the video, “The dawn of de-extinction. Are you Ready”, Stewart Brand, introduced us to term de-extinction, the process of creating an organism that is extinct, and the global benefits of this process. In addition, Mr. Brand mentioned how humankind didn’t realize the biological impact of extinction until 1914, when the last female passenger pigeon died at the Cincinnati zoo. Moreover, how the number of this specie went from five billion birds to zero in couple decades, because of the out of control commercial hunting and other human activities. On the other hand, this specific consequence of the commercial hunting made people realize that the extinction of other species, like the American bison, will happen and needs to stop. Subsequently,
Mammoth Cave National Park is home to the world’s largest known cave system. Millions of years ago this region was originally located 10° south of the equator (GORP.com, 2002) in an area was covered by shallow seas. Over the years plate tectonics have caused this area to move to 37.1833° north of the equator. Also, causing the shallow sea waters to dissipate and upheaval of the earth’s crust, known as the Cincinnati Arch (Livesay,1953). Over the years the Cincinnati Arch and surrounding areas have been subjected to erosion, weathering and more upheavals causing the rivers to once again flow. The, weathering, erosion and area hydrology created the karst topography seen in the area and consequently the cavern systems with in Mammoth Cave.