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There's the theory that a significant reason why mammals superseded reptiles after the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) mass-extinction event is because the cooler, da
by AftHurrahWinch 3y ago
There's the theory that a significant reason why mammals superseded reptiles after the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) mass-extinction event is because the cooler, darker planet prevented reptiles from sunning themselves to clear fungal infections. One of the major reasons cold-blooded animals bask on warm rocks in the sun is to artificially induce a 'fever' to raise their body temperature high enough to break down proteins in fungal infections. Warm-blooded mammals had the ability to do that naturally, even during the very long winter after the K-T event. [0]
Yet, increasing global temperatures have been naturally selecting fungi which can survive at higher temperatures... and the average human body temperature has been decreasing in the developed world [1].
[0]: https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1002808 https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/j...
[1]: https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2020/01/human-body-temperature-has-decreased-in-united-states.html https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2020/01/human-body-te...
- onlyrealcuzzo 3y agoThe world has been MUCH hotter than it is today since mammals have been around (for most of it): https://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-qa/whats-hottest-earths-ever-been https://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-qa/whats-hotte...
- swores 3y agoWhich isn't to say that all mammals and especially not that humans can therefore cope fine come what may.
- ackbar03 3y agoI took a climate course or something in undergrad, and pretty much the only thing that stuck with me from that was technically we are still in an ice age? Since it is technically defined as when there is ice on the north and south poles. For millions (billions?) of years it alternates between there being ice and no ice. I keep wondering if I misremembered since it's so different to the whole global waking narrative
- _Microft 3y ago> I keep wondering if I misremembered since it's so different to the whole global waking narrative I don't see a problem with both being true: we can technically be in an "ice age" and still experience warming that would hurt us greatly in the future.
- kaliqt 3y agoYes but climate change narratives imply that we are the primary cause and must force change (even if harmful) to begin to even attempt to prevent some of these effects.
- balder1991 3y agoTo me, the simplest explanation for our average drop in temperature is indeed less sick people, which means less feverish people driving the average up.
- geokon 3y agoInteresting , but the problems is that dinosaurs aren't reptiles and are theorized to have been warm blooded. So probably a better comparison would be to birds However as far as I understand birds are found in artict/polar climates while dinosaurs were only at high latitudes during warm periods. It feels like there must be some fundamental physiological difference from birds other than flight - but I'm not clear what. Would be curious to hear an expert opinion
- upsidesinclude 3y agoArctic
- mcpackieh 3y agoBirds and dinosaurs are/were reptiles in the modern cladistic sense. They're both archosaurs, making them kinds of reptiles.
- peter_retief 3y agoI love speculating about the similarity of hives/nests and cells, bees raise the temperature of the hive if under attack as do mammals for pathogens. Some ants and termites actually farm fungi, called ant–fungus mutualism, which probably regulates temperature and humidity in the nest as well as providing nutrients.