Re: Extinction and Loss of Habitat

From: "Ron Iles" roniles at eircom.net> on 2001.11.07 at 00:37:29(7760) During three BILLION years of Evolution less advanced & inappropriately specialised kinds were SLOWLY replaced by more advanced kinds.. Except for simpler kinds which could adapt very fast, sudden catastrophes & cataclysms intermittently delayed or set back Evolution. Over most of Modern Man's three MILLION years he was part of that Evolution in stable dynamic equilibrium with other kinds. But increasingly over the past two centuries, when he was powered by machines, & the past twenty years when you could argue he used & is manipulated by mind machines, most other kinds on earth have been subject to his mushrooming cataclysms. Thousands of times more kinds have been made extinct in the past century than in the entire period since Ape Man first walked upright. Please look at the Red Book of Endangered Species. You are right in saying that these "could not keep up with the changing world" = the cataclysms of Man. Few "Higher Forms" of Life could, and far from being "failures of one sort or another" modern wild kinds were the glorious successes of over three BILLION YEARS of Evolution. Barring total Planet sterilisation, an optimistic scenario is that that Man, a "Higher Form" of Life, psycho-socially & environmentally will be a victim of his own cataclysm alongside other Higher Forms. And the most adaptable "Lower Life" will take over & Evolution will be restored probably without his inabilities to adapt to them. If he is not capable of achieving concord for himself within a stable dynamic equilibrium with all other successful kinds, then Man is certainly "a failure of one sort or another". I was dealing with Man's Posterity after temporarily suspending Evolution of Life on this Planet. (The following immortal words by one of your simple but advanced unspecialised Native peoples who lived in stable dynamic equilibrium with Evolution on the Planet like other Native Peoples - Would you call of them failures? Your Chief Seattle said - 1842 I think?) "What will happen to the Spirit of Man when all the great Beasts have gone" We are surely in the midst of knowing the answer now? Ron Iles. +More ----- Original Message ----- To: "Multiple recipients of list AROID-L" Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2001 9:02 PM Subject: Re: Extinction and Loss of Habitat Am I missing something? Did the big dinosaurs die off because of loss ofhabitat? Most species have died out because they are failures of one sortor another or are not able to keep up with a changeable world. This isbasic Darwin and modern permutations thereof. I think I am safe in sayingthis is science. "Ron Iles" To: Multiple recipients of list AROID-L m.net> Sent by: cc: aroid-l@mobot. Fax to: org Subject: Re: Extinction and Loss of Habitat 11/06/01 11:25 AM Please respond to aroid-l Ted!You must be joking?Ron----- Original Message -----From: To: "Multiple recipients of list AROID-L" Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2001 4:12 AMSubject: Extinction and Loss of HabitatI take exception to the statement that most extinctions are caused by lossof habitat. Surely some, maybe many are in the large scheme. But newpredation, disease, and plain old climate alteration must be right upthere. And then there is the probable fact that some species are just notwell evolved - failures, in other words. I think habitat loss gets a bigfollowing since it is an obvious factor in large animal extinctions,particularly those of recent times. You know, the warm fuzzies. I wish Ihad the Book of Life and could review the numbers on this that wouldinclude all "species", including the millions that have perished since thebeginning.Just a skeptic about sweeping pronouncements.ted.held@hstna.com

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