71–80 of 103 posts
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Which is the norm for invasive species. I imagine humans specifically concentrated on megafauna because, why not go after the single big easy-to-find animal that will feed your family for weeks?
To be fair it probably took some time to figure out methods to make mammoth steak last for weeks without refrigeration
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I was reading an article, some time ago, about Amazon Indians that actually like rotten meat. Apparently, it is quite nutritious, doesn't hurt them (maybe acquired immunity?), and is probably fairly easy to digest (it's halfway there, already). Scavenging spoiled meat is a fairly classic natural trait, and even apex predators won't pass up an easy snack.
Humans do it today with steaks. 'aged' steaks are basically rotting. They are tender.
The linked nautil.us article is a one sided poor summary of what is still an ongoing debate with strong beliefs on either side. Two people are quoted: * Jens-Christian Svenning, director of the Danish National Research Foundation’s Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere at Aarhus University. He’s also the lead author on a recent paper published in Cambridge Prisms: Extinction that argues it was not clima…
I mention this only to add to your informative post. Humans almost drove whales extinct because their rendered fat produced less fat for lamp fuel, and they are substantially pelagic. We almost drove bison extinct in NA in a matter of decades. We are driving massive numbers of species across trophic levels extinct, right now https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/29/us-anima... It isn't a choice, climate ch…
Earlier lithic-technology subsistence whale and bison hunting doesn't seem to have been a big problem for either. I won't say that early human hunting didn't contribute to or cause mega-fauna extinctions (in fact, it seems quite likely) but that's not highly analogous to these more recent events.
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Humans do it today with steaks. 'aged' steaks are basically rotting. They are tender.
rotting and aging are very different things. rotting is simply being consumed by fungus/bacteria, aging is a more complex process that involves controlling the liquid levels in the meat in order to make it last longer (wet aging) or taste better (dry aging)
'Controlled' rotting.
There are fungus and bacteria in the aging process, just the temperature and humidity is controlled.
But, not sure of exact technical definition of 'rotting' is, or 'aging'. So we'd be debating different definitions.
I'd say generally both have fungus and bacteria, and 'aging' is under controlled conditions, and 'rotting' is just out in out door environment which is different temperature and humidity.
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I mention this only to add to your informative post. Humans almost drove whales extinct because their rendered fat produced less fat for lamp fuel, and they are substantially pelagic. We almost drove bison extinct in NA in a matter of decades. We are driving massive numbers of species across trophic levels extinct, right now https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/29/us-anima... It isn't a choice, climate ch…
Whales and bison were subject to very modern techniques. While sailing whalers did stress whale populations, it was the steam launch and exploding harpoon that really did the whales in. Bison were destroyed with rifles, which are new in themselves, but the mass-slaughter behavior was enabled by rail transport. Plus they were plenty stressed by competition with cattle, bred for rail transport, and enclosure of the pra…
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> The most devastating blow for the buffalo, wolves, bears, etc was habitat loss. Wasn't the most devastating blow to Buffalo the campaign by settlers to slaughter them, since they were important to the native Americans?
I think the word buffalo really confuses people. Bison are in North America while buffalo (small b) are in Asia and Africa. >Wasn't the most devastating blow to Buffalo the campaign by settlers to slaughter them I hope everyone in the city of Buffalo, NY are OK lol
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Where do we draw the megafauna line? Do gazelle count?
Apparently, yes… > In zoology, megafauna (from Greek μέγας megas "large" and Neo-Latin fauna "animal life") are large animals. The precise definition of the term varies widely, though a common threshold is approximately 45 kilograms (99 lb), with other thresholds as low as 10 kilograms (22 lb) or as high as 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb). Large body size is generally associated with other traits, such as having a slow ra…
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Apparently, yes… > In zoology, megafauna (from Greek μέγας megas "large" and Neo-Latin fauna "animal life") are large animals. The precise definition of the term varies widely, though a common threshold is approximately 45 kilograms (99 lb), with other thresholds as low as 10 kilograms (22 lb) or as high as 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb). Large body size is generally associated with other traits, such as having a slow ra…
Why is 'fauna' termed as neo-latin? Is it a modern coinage?
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Which is the norm for invasive species. I imagine humans specifically concentrated on megafauna because, why not go after the single big easy-to-find animal that will feed your family for weeks?
To be fair it probably took some time to figure out methods to make mammoth steak last for weeks without refrigeration