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The (CLUB) Empire Strikes Back
Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 10:16 am
by Minimalist
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/lo ... t=&sid=101
I've read about that theory. It maintains that the meteor collided with the Earth between 13,000 and 12,800 years ago and caused continent-wide wildfires that destroyed the vegetation the great herbivores needed for food.
According to Indian-Artifact Magazine, the theory maintains that the impact left a telltale layer of debris that can be identified overlying Clovis levels in at least eight of 20 sites.
The Clovis were the first humans to inhabit this part of the world. They are identified by the type of projectile points they made.
The meteor impact might also have led to the end of the Clovis culture, the scientists say.
Sounds remotely similar to what happened to the dinosaurs, doesn't it?
I talked to three local scientists, and all three tended to discount the theory, interesting as it may be.
Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 10:38 am
by Beagle
Yep, I think Firestone, West, and the other original theorists went too far by stating that all mammoths were extinguished by thiis event. Some fossils have been found that post date the comet. "Contributed" to their extinction would have been better I think.
Still, the international panel has not rejected the theory, just asked for further evidence.
Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 11:06 am
by Minimalist
It wouldn't have to "kill them all." It would just have to drive the population low enough to the point where they were not a viable breeding population.
In any disaster there are always survivors. The question is, 'how long can they survive?'
Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 6:24 pm
by Rokcet Scientist
Like the Mountain Gorillas, 700 surviving, or the Siberian Tiger, 350 surviving, or the Giant Galapagos Tortoise, 1 surviving. Etc. etc. etc.
None are viable populations anymore. So all are already effectively extinct.
