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Geology, Palaeontology & Archaeology / Re: What causes mass extinctions?
« on: 29/10/2015 13:14:40 »
Say we had a hot asteroid event, followed by a cooling trend due to the dust. Logically this would impact the surviving plant eater animals first due to loss of plant food. As these animals slow down from hunger, the carnivores would have a field day due to so much easy food. As the caucuses of animals decay, now the scavengers would have a field day. Do we see a mass extinction with least disruption in the scavengers?
In the oceans and lakes a similar thing would occur. The plant eaters will weaken and die. This means a field day for the carnivores. As things rot, then the cat fish, crabs and other scavengers would have a field day. The ocean scavengers would have the best chance for maintaining the most continuity. Is this observed based on using the selective advantage arguments of evolution.
Another question that comes to my mind is why did animals like crocodiles, turtles, sharks, who were there with the dinosaurs, not go extinct? These prodigy of the dinosaur are not scavengers but tend to be carnivores.
In the oceans and lakes a similar thing would occur. The plant eaters will weaken and die. This means a field day for the carnivores. As things rot, then the cat fish, crabs and other scavengers would have a field day. The ocean scavengers would have the best chance for maintaining the most continuity. Is this observed based on using the selective advantage arguments of evolution.
Another question that comes to my mind is why did animals like crocodiles, turtles, sharks, who were there with the dinosaurs, not go extinct? These prodigy of the dinosaur are not scavengers but tend to be carnivores.