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Originally Posted by daswig
I thought it was something like that, but didn't want to go to the trouble of digging up the exact figures or having somebody scream "SOURCE???" at me. Now that figure is your problem.  |
Haha... well, if you want the source I can give it you. It's one of those "fluffy" statistics anyway, as not even all species that currently exist have been identified and/or classified. If anything, the figure is higher.
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Nope, I didn't mix them up. Extinction is the flip side of evolution.
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It's not really. There is no "flip side" to evolution. It is unavoidable result of development based upon sexual reproduction, taking environmental factors, adaptation and mutation into account. Evolution is "caused" (or actioned, if you will) by adaptation which drives speciation. Gould et al proposed a theory of
punctuated equilibrium that takes the emphasis off gradual adaptationism, but that isn't universally accepted and doesn't change the underlying precepts.
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If an organism doesn't evolve, it runs a very real risk of losing it's niche due to the evolution of it's competition for that niche.
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Agreed. And machine-gunning buffalo isn't competition.
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It's the old "running as fast as you can just to stay even" scenario. If you stay put, you're most likely going to lose. There are exceptions to this (diatoms, sharks, alligators, opossums spring to mind) but by and large, the competition is "fro'cious", and if you don't evolve you risk losing your spot, which can easily lead to extinction.
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Well, I'm not going to argue, per se, with any of those comments. They are more or less correct. However, the point is that extinction is
NOT inevitable (a species can reach a summit in a "fitness landscape" to coin Dennet's term), nor is it "natural" when humans massacre creatures or destroy landscape. In those circumstances, it's
impossible for the species to adapt, as the change in circumstances (either forests being torn down or bullets slamming into their bodies) is so rapid that "evolution" does not have a chance to work.
It's a very interesting subject, and one of my favourite topics, so I'd be delighted to discuss further in another thread.
Mr Mephisto
PS - Those book recommendations weren't meant to be snooty... on rereading the post it may have come across that way. They are honest to goodness excellent books on this fascinating subject. I can recommend a whole bunch more if you're honestly interested, rather than trying to troll.