ZOOLOGY 651 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Coevolution, Gigantism, Dwarfism
24 Sep 2016
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18-30 species driven extinct within last 200 years. Began with arrival of polynesians 400 ac pigs, rats, hunting (and diseases?) originally, 125+ native species. Originally: hoary bat and monk seal now: 42 terrestrial mammals - not good for birds. Wild pigs - rooting up plants arthropods: Originally: no ants; lots of fruitflies now: 35% introduced species, including destructive ants fruitflies: adaptive radiation plants: More than of the 167 genera of large land mammals went extinct. Evolutionary anachronism : an evolutionary trait that no longer makes sense, although it may have served well before. Ex: american pronghorn antelope - chased by cheetah for most of existence. evolutionary developed to run up to speeds of 60 mph. Horses and camels all of these disappeared, very recently in geological terms. N america went from having more genera of large mammals than any other continent on earth to having the least theories on pleistocene extinctions: Pleistocene overkill: people ate them, big kill .
