species ex. vs. individual deaths

[Darkclaw <GROS4891@ADC.MtRoyal.AB.CA>]

    Hi all,
    
        One thing I wanted to point out with this short message is an 
annoyance I have with this talk about how small animal species 
suffered practically no exinctions deuring the K/T event.

        JUST BECAUSE A SPECIES DIDN'T DIE OFF DOESN'T MEAN THAT NONE 
OF IT'S MEMBER ANIMALS DIDN'T DIE EITHER!!!

        Back in the Creatceous, there were probably 1000's of times 
more small critters than there were dinosaurs (I'm just throwing out 
the *1000's* figure to make my point, I'm not implying that it's a 
statistical truth). So keeping that in mind, small animals such as 
frogs and mammals could(and probably did) suffer huge individual 
losses...dying off in even larger numbers than the dinosaurs did. But 
luckily for our minute animalian friends, there were still enough of 
them hiding around to propogate the species; unlike the (non-avian) 
dinosaurs of whom ALL species individuals died. 

        By the way, I'm an "ultimate catasrophist" I guess. I think 
changing climates, draining seas and migration diseases were having 
small impacts (so to speak) on the animal populations at the time and 
then the big rock from the sky came down and put the final nail in 
the coffin for the dinosaurs, etc.

        I know there's a method to my madness in here somewhere...

Cory Gross
Alberta Palaeontological Society
MRC Earth Sciences Society
gros4891@adc.mtroyal.ab.ca