3 ms·

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_facial_tumour_disease https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_facial_tumour_disease > In 2007, it was predicted that populatio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_facial_tumour_disease https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_facial_tumour_disease > In 2007, it was predicted that populations could become locally extinct within 10–15 years of DFTD occurring, and predicted that the disease would spread across the entire range of the Tasmanian devils causing the devils to become extinct within 25–35 years. Oh man :( Is this kind of stuff "normal" (historically), or is it likely to be another result of our general poisoning of everything? There is this, > In 2004, Kathryn Medlock found three oddly shaped devil skulls in European museums and found a description of a devil in London Zoo dying, which showed a similarity to DFTD but that's a.) not much and b.) the source for that is dead or had the URL changed, and I can't find it: https://www.google.com/search?q=abc+%22Devil+Disease%22+medlock+2004 https://www.google.com/search?q=abc+%22Devil+Disease%22+medl...

TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
I live in Tasmania. Fortunately, Tasmanian Devils are very easy to breed in captivity, and there’s at least a handful of sanctuaries open to the public that have breeding programs, and rehabilitation services that cater to for injured Devils. So it looks like the Tasmanian Devil will continue on.
stareatgoats 8y ago
Might not be the fault of humans in this case. The Wikipedia article [0] gives some interesting context, and suggests that the cancer is spread through allograft (i.e. a form of direct transfer of the cancer from one individual to another). It also reports that "The devils have, in a way, fought back the extinction by developing the gene that is immune to face tumors" - a positive development in the long run. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_facial_tumour_disease#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_facial_tumour_disease#Hi...
- PavlovsCat 8y ago
  I did read that. Right after the bit I quoted: > Calicivirus, 1080 poison, agricultural chemicals, and habitat fragmentation combined with a retrovirus were other proposed causes. Environmental toxins had also been suspected. But the source for that is also kinda useless... someone with the last name Owen wrote a book in 2005, great. I'm used to footnotes containing quotes from the material they reference, and even when it links to a source, since link rot is out of their scope, that doesn't really help. > suggests that the cancer is spreads though allograft (i.e. a form of direct transfer of the cancer from one individual to another) Yes, but why is that a recent disease? 1996 is super recent. > It also reports that "The devils have, in a way, fought back the extinction by developing the gene that is immune to face tumors" - a positive development in the long run. The long run is the last 100k years, IMO. When I think about cancer historically, I am interested in that timeframe, not starting with 1996. I wrote this reply 21 minutes after your comment, but apparently I was throttled so I had to keep the tab open to post it much later. I'm done here, good luck and bye everybody.

TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago

I live in Tasmania. Fortunately, Tasmanian Devils are very easy to breed in captivity, and there’s at least a handful of sanctuaries open to the public that have breeding programs, and rehabilitation services that cater to for injured Devils. So it looks like the Tasmanian Devil will continue on.

stareatgoats 8y ago

Might not be the fault of humans in this case. The Wikipedia article [0] gives some interesting context, and suggests that the cancer is spread through allograft (i.e. a form of direct transfer of the cancer from one individual to another). It also reports that "The devils have, in a way, fought back the extinction by developing the gene that is immune to face tumors" - a positive development in the long run. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_facial_tumour_disease#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_facial_tumour_disease#Hi...

PavlovsCat 8y ago
I did read that. Right after the bit I quoted: > Calicivirus, 1080 poison, agricultural chemicals, and habitat fragmentation combined with a retrovirus were other proposed causes. Environmental toxins had also been suspected. But the source for that is also kinda useless... someone with the last name Owen wrote a book in 2005, great. I'm used to footnotes containing quotes from the material they reference, and even when it links to a source, since link rot is out of their scope, that doesn't really help. > suggests that the cancer is spreads though allograft (i.e. a form of direct transfer of the cancer from one individual to another) Yes, but why is that a recent disease? 1996 is super recent. > It also reports that "The devils have, in a way, fought back the extinction by developing the gene that is immune to face tumors" - a positive development in the long run. The long run is the last 100k years, IMO. When I think about cancer historically, I am interested in that timeframe, not starting with 1996. I wrote this reply 21 minutes after your comment, but apparently I was throttled so I had to keep the tab open to post it much later. I'm done here, good luck and bye everybody.