Re: Why Large Gap Between Species...?
Nat Turner (turner@smarty.smart.net)
6 Dec 1996 08:25:52 GMT
In article <58774n$iib@newsgate.duke.edu>,
Geoff Alex Cohen <gac@cs.duke.edu> wrote:
>Nat Turner (turner@smarty.smart.net) wrote:
>: Why do you assume there was "competition"? I doubt seriously if piths
>: competed against hominids.
>
>I didn't assume. I'm saying that demography theory says that if there
>is competition, both extinction of one species and coexistence of
>multiple species are possible.
>
>But why would you doubt competition? There is a limited number of
>appropriate sleeping habitats; there is a limited amount of fruit or
>nuts available for eating; in an arid environment there may well be
>a limited number of sources of water.
Competition suggests different groups competing over scarce resources.
What about "niche" theory? Would H. habilis, erectus, and H. sapiens
competed over precisely the same resources? Certainly H. sapiens and the
piths wouldn't have. And how was this competition played out anyway?
Erectus kills off the piths, habilis kills off erectus, H. sapiens kill
off habilis?
Which begs the question, "Why didn't the piths kill off apes and chimps?"
Nat
>>
>Geoff
--
|