re: End of a species? The last Northern White Rhino male has died; only 2 females remain

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Predatory species have caused other species to go extinct before. Humans are not the first to do this, nor will we be the last. Again, either we are part of evolution or we are not if we are going to believe in evolution, then we need to really believe in evolution. And as sad as the loss of this species of rhino is, it’s part of evolution.

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Last I checked, other species don't have the higher level of thought and rationality of humans plus the sophisticated level of weaponry that can lead to extinctions.

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Sorry. Life is harsh children and usually doesn’t have a happy ending. Welcome to the real world, buttercup.

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There it is. Quintessential Darth.

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Another good example of a species not being able to evolve to our technology fast enough is the passenger pigeon. There either has to be a billion of them or zero of them for the way they breed to work. The sheer numbers of them overwhelms predators and when their young hatch some are bound to survive. We came along with shotguns, rocket fired nets, and traps and decimated their population to the point that their young were not hatching in numbers enough to survive attrition by predation.

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Isn't there some data out there to suggest that the drastic decrease in the Native American population, after the advent of European diseases, resulted in the huge passenger pigeon numbers? (Decreased their human predators and also increased their forage in forests.) Meaning, the huge flocks of them weren't necessarily their "natural" state or perhaps their more recent "natural" state.

I am not debating whether or not they were hunted to extinction with "modern" firearms.

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Predatory species have caused other species to go extinct before.

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such as? I'm drawing a blank here

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But the only evolutionary purpose to preserve a species that without our intervention could not survive on its own is if that species can be used to the furtherance of our own species.

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Preserving a diverse ecosystem furthers our own species.

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End of a species? The last Northern White Rhino male has died; only 2 females remain

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I gotta call bullshite on this, they're already reproducing...

I recall reading that somewhere before, I will try to find it. Turtles reproduce the same way. The eggs all hatch at basically the same time and it overwhelms the predators so at least some make it to the water.


found it

LINK

this states that in the 1800s the population was about 10,000 times larger than during a lot of periods in history. If there were billions of them in the 1800s then that would still be a very large number historically. "The passenger pigeon is thought to have depended on large flocks for predator satiation and efficient location of unpredictable seed mast crops (12, 13), and a minimum population-size threshold was required for successful breeding "

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but this 'northern' species is not any different than the southern white rhino except for where they lived and evolved.

It's like saying the deer of Alabama are extinct and a different deer than Georgia deer. Yes they are technically different genetically, but really not.

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In the case of the Northern White Rhino, the fact that they lived and evolved differently from the Southern White Rhino is EXACTLY what makes it a sub-species.

Key Deer are a sub-species because they were isolated and evolved differently than the mainland deer. That's also why there's a giant fence and a lower speed limit along Hwy 1 where they live. They need protection from the "apex predator" driving a SUV.

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one trip to africa and becomes the rhino expert.

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seriously though, the trip looked bad arse.

The Trump boys must be pissed. I heard they wanted tjis one as a trophy