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Re: Extinction

At 04:57 AM 3/30/00 -0500, Larry Febo wrote:

I don`t know much about La Brea, but I can`t see how any determination of
extinction by climate change can be made by studying one site alone. Sure,
one may see that a species was in decline in that area. Sure, one can also
see that climate was perhaps "deteriorating" in direct correlation at that
particular site. But what is to say that the species in question didn`t just
migrate out of there?

Actually, the site says nothing *direct* about causes. What it does give is fairly precise *timing* of the extinctions, which cover several thousand years. Each individual species has a particular latest appearance in the pits, and due to the nature of the site, these can be dated quite accurately. We also know, from other sources, when humans became prominent in the area.

Many of the species disappear well before the earliest human settlements known from that area.


[Only one human skeleton was found in the tar itself, and she was apparently a murder victim - since ritual sacrifice in unlikely to be singular, and she died of a blow to the head].

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May the peace of God be with you.         sarima@ix.netcom.com