Re: Why Large Gap Between Species...?
morphis@niuhep.physics.niu.edu
12 Dec 1996 16:46:48 GMT
In article <58lf1m$bk2@news1.randomc.com>, freas@randomc.com writes:
>W.F. Van Houten has introduced a most plausible answer to the puzzling
>question,"What causes extinction?" He says,"The cheetah also seems to be
>having some kind of genetic difficulty that is giving them population
>problems." Study the fading cheetah and you may stumble onto nature's
>drawering board.
I am of two minds on this, it seems clear to me that the cheetah is
an extreme, it only keeps half of what it kills and is quite
vulnerable to injury.
OTOH the cheetah's genetic problems at this time are primarily due to
human hunting.
In any case cheetahs would seem to make an interesting case study for
evolutionary biologists.
> Jim Freas
specify the e-mail address below, my reply-to: has anti-spam added to it
Morphis@physics.niu.edu
Real Men change diapers
|