3 ms·

What people fail to grasp is we are a great mass extinction event, and it is a fairly conscious effort that we're not stopping it.

queuebert 3y ago
Hence the term "anthropocene" for the current era.
Jensson 3y ago
Humans already started it when we killed off all the largest land animals outside of Africa 13 000 years ago. You know Elephants and Mammoths were found all over earth before then. Thank humans for the lack of Elephants in America.
- ethbr1 3y ago
  Still have bison (barely) though!
  - bmitc 3y ago
    As far as I know, there's only one group of pure-bred bison. All of the other bison in the U.S. are effectively genetic hybrids between bison and cattle.
    - ethbr1 3y ago
      It looks like you might be referring to the Texas State Bison Herd. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison#Texas_State_Bison_Herd https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison#Texas_State_B... There were other, pure bred herds (e.g. Yellowstone, Canadian, etc). And as this points out, the remnants of hybridization efforts were minimal, even in the direct Goodnight, Jones, and Bedson herds: >> "These brief experiments form the basis for the controversy surrounding cattle genetic introgression in bison today. A study conducted for her Doctoral Dissertation by Lauren Dobson of Texas A&M University concluded that bison descended from those herds have the equivalent of 1 percent cattle genetic introgression within their genome." https://bisoncentral.com/advantage-item/ranchers-role-in-bison-restoration/ https://bisoncentral.com/advantage-item/ranchers-role-in-bis... At the end of the day, bison didn't take (genetically or economically) to hybridization, as the hybrids were less hardy than pure bred bison.
  - jfengel 3y ago
    Bonus: the near extinction of the bison was deliberate, to eliminate the native American cultures that depended on them. An extinction twofer!
- hnburnsy 3y ago
  So which humans in the Americas killed off the roaming elephants or mammoths?
  - pvaldes 3y ago
    > So which humans in the Americas killed off the roaming elephants or mammoths? native Americans

queuebert 3y ago

Hence the term "anthropocene" for the current era.

Jensson 3y ago

Humans already started it when we killed off all the largest land animals outside of Africa 13 000 years ago. You know Elephants and Mammoths were found all over earth before then. Thank humans for the lack of Elephants in America.

ethbr1 3y ago
Still have bison (barely) though!
- bmitc 3y ago
  As far as I know, there's only one group of pure-bred bison. All of the other bison in the U.S. are effectively genetic hybrids between bison and cattle.
  - ethbr1 3y ago
    It looks like you might be referring to the Texas State Bison Herd. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison#Texas_State_Bison_Herd https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison#Texas_State_B... There were other, pure bred herds (e.g. Yellowstone, Canadian, etc). And as this points out, the remnants of hybridization efforts were minimal, even in the direct Goodnight, Jones, and Bedson herds: >> "These brief experiments form the basis for the controversy surrounding cattle genetic introgression in bison today. A study conducted for her Doctoral Dissertation by Lauren Dobson of Texas A&M University concluded that bison descended from those herds have the equivalent of 1 percent cattle genetic introgression within their genome." https://bisoncentral.com/advantage-item/ranchers-role-in-bison-restoration/ https://bisoncentral.com/advantage-item/ranchers-role-in-bis... At the end of the day, bison didn't take (genetically or economically) to hybridization, as the hybrids were less hardy than pure bred bison.
- jfengel 3y ago
  Bonus: the near extinction of the bison was deliberate, to eliminate the native American cultures that depended on them. An extinction twofer!
hnburnsy 3y ago
So which humans in the Americas killed off the roaming elephants or mammoths?
- pvaldes 3y ago
  > So which humans in the Americas killed off the roaming elephants or mammoths? native Americans