Re:Death by hockey sticks
by sidewndr46 on Wednesday September 14, 2022 @07:38AM
(#32835762)
Simply looking at the net species over a year doesn't really tell the full story of it.
You can lose megafauna like the American Bison or Steller's sea cow. Smaller fauna like the thylacine are also lost. Such species aren't going to re-emerge in the timescale of humanity. What I named off are just 3 species. If 3 species of ants happen to replace them, that's not really making up the difference. The world has plenty of ants in plenty of species already.
Also please don't drag out the "American Bison isn't extinct!" argument. There were less than a thousand at some point in the 19th century, so all the genetic diversity they had is gone. They've been bred with cattle to the point that the remaining herds are basically all hybrids, despite claims to the contrary. They're also functionally extinct in North America, as all herds are dependent on management at this point.
You can lose megafauna like the American Bison or Steller's sea cow. Smaller fauna like the thylacine are also lost. Such species aren't going to re-emerge in the timescale of humanity. What I named off are just 3 species. If 3 species of ants happen to replace them, that's not really making up the difference. The world has plenty of ants in plenty of species already.
Also please don't drag out the "American Bison isn't extinct!" argument. There were less than a thousand at some point in the 19th century, so all the genetic diversity they had is gone. They've been bred with cattle to the point that the remaining herds are basically all hybrids, despite claims to the contrary. They're also functionally extinct in North America, as all herds are dependent on management at this point.