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Ancient Hyenas and The First Americans
DrLudicrous writes "ABC is running a story about anthropologist Christy Turner's theory about hyenas, humans and dogs. The idea is that humans were unable to encroach on Alaska, and thus the Americas, thousands of years ago because of gigantic, bone-crushing hyenas, much larger than their African cousins. Eventually, the domestication of dogs somehow provided the first Americans with protection against these beasts, and within a couple of millenia, the ancient hyenas were extinct."
Who's laughing now? Huh?
My other Slashdot ID is much lower.
Don't you know that we are the humans? The single most advanced species on the surface of the planet?
Look at the pretty opposable thumb! LOOK AT THE THUMB DAMNIT!
*CHOMP*
They were not so scary in the Lion King.
g
Can we finally answer the age old question "Who let the dogs out?"
extinct because of humans. We really are the cancer of this planet.
True warriors use the Klingon Google
Even 14000 years ago, it was a dog-eat-dog world. Or a dog-eat-man world.
This really has the sound of a 'pet theory' to me (no pun intended :-p). This guy really, really, likes hyenas, and therefore concludes that they are the solution to a significant archeological mystery. I mean, really, hyenas aren't the only predators around; why didn't (say) the lions in Africa kill off humans there?
Nothing wrong with pet theories... he's just gonna need more evidence than a dog skull in a hyena cave to prove it.
Right. And I bet all of the dinosaur extinctions were our fault as well?
While I admit that modern humans have a large negative impact on many species, I don't think you can realistically blame our ancestors, who had just learned to domesticate dogs, for winning the competition for food and land area. Just as the hyenas probably caused the species before them to die out, because they were better suited for the competition.
It's really nutcases like you that make me think bad thoughts about the larger groups of environmentalists, who are most likely made up of a large number of reasonable people.
extinct because of humans. We really are the cancer of this planet.
Oh yes, what a shame it is that we no longer have packs of 40-50 giant unafraid hyenas scouring the continent. I for one, plan to cry myself to sleep tonight, for the poor, misunderstood giant hyena.
What we did was supplant one pack hunter for another. And I for one, am rooting for the Humans.
"Inattention makes clowns of us all" -Bean
I'd just like to know when the dogs decided that the humans were going to win, so it was worth becoming domesticated...or did they just hang around people thinking "They're bigger, the hyenas will eat them first?"
I know that, faced with a giant bone-crunching hyena, our dogs would bravely hide behind me and wait to see what happened next.
Panurge has posted for the last time. Thanks for the positive moderations.
I read it as that too, PhysicsGenius.
Fun fact: During the ice age, Alaska was in the tropics, hence the hyenas. This was caused by the tilt of the Earth.
If you don't understand any of my sayings, come to me in private and I shall take you in my German mouth.
Large mammals in Asia and Africa evolved alongside humans as we gradually developed weapons and hunting skills. Everywhere else we've gone in the last 100,000 years, we've wiped out 90%+ of the large animal species. This is true in the Americas, Australia, Europe, and many of the large islands. The sabertooth tigers, woolly mammoths, giant sloths, hyenas, etc., had survived for millions of years in the Americas, and then all suddenly died out within a few hundred years of the arrival of humans. Coincidence?
Humans, hyenas, and dogs -- and these relate to nerds how? Is this like one of those SAT analogy questions? Or are we talking metaphor here? Lets see, the users are humans, the programmers dogs, the bosses hyenas ... or was that users dogs, programmers hyenas, bosses human ... nah, users hyenas, programmers....
It's hard to imagine a sufficiently menacing hyena, or my neighbor's terrier taking it on to protect alpha, but anything's possible.
our hero
This lobster was alive when it hit the frothy, boiling water.
man is vastly iferior to giant hyenas,
dogs are vastly inferior to humans
hyenas are apperently vastly inferior to dogs
anyone else see problems here?
on CNN about how long dogs have been domesticated, and their surprising understanding of humans.
Brevity is the soul of wit
-- Polonius
Oh come on! Mods on crack...this is hilarious! +1 funny.
Hrmm....Bow wow down before your new master? I'm afraid not. But just in case, i can fetch like a pro.
Der Tod ist der einzige Weg hier raus!
Seeing a dog bone here and there isn't much evidence.
I could also say the humans are the ones enabling the dogs to enter. Not the dogs enabling the humans.
Could be symbiosis but a society smart enough to domesticate dogs would be smart enough to deal with the hyenas. 40 hyenas vs 20 skilled humans with spears and shields, I'd say the humans will win.
As far as I see, if a bunch of animals start to become a problem with humans, the humans may get fed up and start systematically wiping them out. No greenpeace in those days. Most large predators have lost ground to humans in areas with higher order civilisations. Don't see many asiatic lions anymore do you?
Maybe a bunch of East Asians acquired a taste for specially prepared Giant Hyena Stew (especially for weddings and other auspicious events).