3 ms·
The Younger Dryas megafauna extinctions cannot necessarily be attributed to humans. Humans spread tens of thousands of years ago. And numerous megafauna still e
by chrisco255 3y ago
The Younger Dryas megafauna extinctions cannot necessarily be attributed to humans. Humans spread tens of thousands of years ago. And numerous megafauna still exist in Africa, the likely birth place of humanity.
- brutusborn 3y agoWhat are the alternative hypothesis?
- AlotOfReading 3y agoThere aren't any unless you're an incredibly fringe academic or using dumb terminology to avoid admitting that strong multiregionalism is entirely dead. Human evolution didn't stop there and there are unresolved questions about where within Africa different phases of the process occurred, of course, but the continent as a whole is undoubtedly where anatomically modern humans emerged.
- chrisco255 3y agoThere's an impact meteor hypothesis, disease, super volcano, and the rapid seesaw climate change itself. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/history-of-geology/httpblogsscientificamericancomhistory-of-geology20110727the-younger-dryas-impact-hypothesis/ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/history-of-geology/http...
- sdenton4 3y agoWell... lots more here. My impression was that African mammals survived in part because they co-evolved with humanity, and didn't get quite the shock as other places where humans showed up fully formed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction#Historic_extinction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction#Historic_e... Wild mammal biomass is estimated to be about 83% lower due to humans. Reduction in biomass isn't exactly synonymous with extinction, but they aren't totally unrelated either. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/21/human-race-just-001-of-all-life-but-has-destroyed-over-80-of-wild-mammals-study https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/21/human-ra...