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Post by DinosaurMichael on Jan 11, 2012 20:39:39 GMT -5
So I was just wondering, but let's say like what happened to the dinosaurs. If an Asteroid struck the earth today? Would humanity or any other animals today be able to survive or do you think they would eventually go extinct just like what happened to the Dinosaurs, which was 65 million years ago? Also what animals do you think would become extinct?
Give out your answer and reasons why or why not?
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Wyvax
Single celled organism
Posts: 73
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Post by Wyvax on Jan 12, 2012 18:52:00 GMT -5
I personally don't believe the asteroid theory, but if one of catastrophic proportions were to strike the Earth today, I bet humanity would survive. Civilization as we now know would most likely crumble away even if government officials survived and attempted to reassert themselves. Many faiths would surive, and revivals would occur for universal beliefs such as Islam, Christianity, Buddhaism, and Atheism; leaving very few people undecided on the issue of faith. Some technology would be salvaged, but a great deal would be lost, including much of the advances in medicine, exploration of space, robotics, much of computer tehnology, and portions of military technology.
As the days go on you would see a decline in the population as those that managed to surive the impact die from starvation, exposure, illness, suicide, raiders, and other desperates. Eventually only those with the ability and knowledge to survive in the wild, their apprentices and dependants, and the bands of criminals that prey upon others, would survive. Some of these survivors would lead a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, while others would attempt horticulture and agriculture, the successfull ones eventually bringing rise to the next civilizations. By the time those civilizations are established however, even more technology would be lost, including electronics, machining and mondern manufaturing skills, motorized vehicles, a great deal of scientific and mathamatical knowledge, and probably gunsmithing. Civilizations would be similar to the earliest upon archaeological record, though many would aspire to immitate more advanced empires and kingdoms of the past such as ancient Rome, Babylon, Greece, China, and Egypt, and medieval England, Turkey, France, Japan, Mongols, Spain, and India. New religions would probably be founded as well.
Most terrestrial megafauna would die off; most if not all large herbivorous mammals would go extinct. The same is true for carnivores; big cats, large pack-hunting canines, and hyenas would probably go extinct. Bears would fare better due to an omnivorous lifestyle, but would probably go extinct as well. Black bears would be the most likely to survive. Apes would go extinct, as well as many monkeys, hardy baboons would probably fare best. Ratites would probably be driven to extinction as well, though not as immediately as large mammals. Specialists, especially herbivorous ones, would be at risk of dying out.
Small animals would fare well. Arthropods would still have an overwhelming biomass, and species count, though some would of course die off. Other major kinds of invertebrates should fare similarly.
Rodents, bats, and insectivores would survive. As would the smaller insectivorous lizards and hardier varieties of amphibians. Insectivorous passerines, and omnivorous game birds would continue on as well. I suspect that fully subterranean creatures like moles, caecilians, amphisbaenians, and cave salamanders would fare fine.
Land predators would be small overall. Foxes, jackals, coyotes, feral dogs, bobcats, feral cats, mongooses, racoons, civits, genets, mustilids (they would probably have the least casualties among carnivores), varanids, snakes (fare almost as well as the mustilids), and large rapacious anurans like bullfrogs and cane toads. Aerial predators would do well, though creatures like the Harpy eagle would go extinct. Raptors, owls, herons, cranes, shrikes, ravens,and large carnivourous bats, would all more or less, survive. Vultures would actually suffer, because most if not all of the big land animals would die off, leaving only little creatures, not enough for large scavengers to persist on. Smaller birds like gulls and crows would take their place.
The seas would doe well, though I suspect that baleen whales, mantas, whales sharks, and other large filter feeding creatures might suffer and run the risk of going extinct. Orcas, dolphins, and other toothed whales would do fine; as would the other forms of shark, including lamnids, and cacharhinids. The only really big animals would reside in the sea, and large river systems. On that note the largest "land" predators left alive would be crocodiles and pinnipeds. Both are fully capable of subsisting on an aquatic diet.
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Wyvax
Single celled organism
Posts: 73
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Post by Wyvax on Jan 13, 2012 20:50:42 GMT -5
American Lion should be here, promoting his Feral World trilogy.
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Post by Anomonyous on Jan 13, 2012 22:52:15 GMT -5
Hey, Wyvax, Atheism isn't a religion. It's more of a default setting, as I like to think it.
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Post by Deinobrontornis on Jan 14, 2012 1:00:04 GMT -5
Hey, Wyvax, Atheism isn't a religion. It's more of a default setting, as I like to think it. Atheist: Atheist, agnostic, infidel, skeptic refer to persons not inclined toward religious belief or a particular form of religious belief. An atheist is one who denies the existence of a deity or of divine beings. An agnostic is one who believes it impossible to know anything about God or about the creation of the universe and refrains from commitment to any religious doctrine. Infidel means an unbeliever, especially a nonbeliever in Islam or Christianity. A skeptic doubts and is critical of all accepted doctrines and creeds. Source: dictionary.reference.com/browse/atheist |
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Post by LeopJag on Jan 14, 2012 2:02:03 GMT -5
Wyvax, i agree. and if you believe in Nostradamus, such an impact event will occur in the year 3797 (think most megafauna will already be extinct before then thanks to humans, and thank goodness i'll be long dead before that happens!).
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Post by apexpredator7 on Jan 14, 2012 13:53:20 GMT -5
totally agree with wyvax
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Post by Anomonyous on Jan 14, 2012 20:32:15 GMT -5
Wyvax, i agree. and if you believe in Nostradamus, such an impact event will occur in the year 3797 (think most megafauna will already be extinct before then thanks to humans, and thank goodness i'll be long dead before that happens!). Nostodamus? How reliable is he in predicting events that occur 2 millennia after his time? Not very, I would think. If we humans can stop blabbing on about how we're killing the Earth and instead actually get off our butts and DO something about it, perhaps we can save our home planet. Admittedly I'm not so good at doing it myself but yeah, we need to actually do something. |
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Post by DinosaurMichael on Feb 24, 2012 19:27:43 GMT -5
I agree with pretty much what Wyrax said. Though I think Polar Bears would survive because if pinnpeds survive. They'll be able to keep preying on them and that's their only food source allowing them to live. Black Bears as well because they can adapt through any changes. Believe it or not but I think Wild Boars would actually survive too. They'll eat about anything. From what I heard even dirt. Also I think all reptiles, all amphibians, and most fishes would survive along with all invertebates such as insects and cephalopods.
Wolverines would survive as well. They'd supplement their diet of rodents and other small animals.
As for animals that would go extinct. Like I said I agree with what you said Wyrax. Only like I think the ones that I said would survive though.
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Wyvax
Single celled organism
Posts: 73
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Post by Wyvax on Feb 24, 2012 21:22:36 GMT -5
That makes sense perfect sense to me. Honestly those rather large opportunists escaped my mind, creatures such as boars. If you exclude man and amphibious creatures such as crocs, then wild boar and large baboons would probably become the dominant land predators in the tropics and temperates, since they are both larger and more vicious then the small canines that would survive (coyotes, foxes). Interesting.
BTW my sceen name is spelled with a V not an R. No worries on the mistake though.
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Post by DinosaurMichael on Feb 25, 2012 8:51:27 GMT -5
That makes sense perfect sense to me. Honestly those rather large opportunists escaped my mind, creatures such as boars. If you exclude man and amphibious creatures such as crocs, then wild boar and large baboons would probably become the dominant land predators in the tropics and temperates, since they are both larger and more vicious then the small canines that would survive (coyotes, foxes). Interesting. BTW my sceen name is spelled with a V not an R. No worries on the mistake though. Agreed and that's good. |
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Post by Anomonyous on Feb 25, 2012 10:48:03 GMT -5
Elephants could possibly prosper. They've basically got everything for surviving: strength, intelligence, tools and weaponry, social bonds, and relative immunity to predation. Their main weakness would be food and low reproduction rate.
Octopi would have a good combination of strength and intelligence as well. They can also be quite innovative when it comes to survival.
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Post by DinosaurMichael on Mar 4, 2012 21:16:30 GMT -5
Elephants could possibly prosper. They've basically got everything for surviving: strength, intelligence, tools and weaponry, social bonds, and relative immunity to predation. Their main weakness would be food and low reproduction rate. Octopi would have a good combination of strength and intelligence as well. They can also be quite innovative when it comes to survival. I doubt it. They'll probably be one of the first animals to go along with Rhinos. The bigger you are. The more food you need and Elephants needs lot of food. If plants start dying. I don't think they'll make it. Then again maybe there's something I don't know about Elephants. If I don't. Tell me then. |
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Post by Anomonyous on Mar 4, 2012 21:22:12 GMT -5
Barring sustenance requirements, elephants appear to be perfectly adapted for survival. They can survive in the harsh environment of Africa and I don't see why not in the case of an asteroid impact if there's a sufficient amount of food to go around.
There was this TV documentary, I forgot what it was called. Anyways, all the humans on Earth apparently died (my brother joked that they overdosed on cocaine) without leaving any effects whatsoever. That's it, all the humans are just gone like that. The documentary stated that the elephants were the first to break out of their zoos (and if I recall they did well afterwards too) because of their combination of intelligence and strength.
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Post by DinosaurMichael on Mar 4, 2012 21:37:39 GMT -5
Barring sustenance requirements, elephants appear to be perfectly adapted for survival. They can survive in the harsh environment of Africa and I don't see why not in the case of an asteroid impact if there's a sufficient amount of food to go around. There was this TV documentary, I forgot what it was called. Anyways, all the humans on Earth apparently died (my brother joked that they overdosed on cocaine) without leaving any effects whatsoever. That's it, all the humans are just gone like that. The documentary stated that the elephants were the first to break out of their zoos (and if I recall they did well afterwards too) because of their combination of intelligence and strength. Okay that makes sense. While there might be enough food for them. I wonder how well they'd do with a very low reproductive rate. Despite that though. I now think it is likely then Elephants would survive then. Rhinos on the other hand though. I don't think has a chance. And that show your referring too is possibly Life After People. While there might be enough food for them. I wonder how well they'd do with a very low reproductive rate. Despite that though. Like I said. I think Elephants would actually survive then. |
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