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Ancient Hyenas and The First Americans

Posted by michael on from the wise-hyenas-come-out-at-eve dept.

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."

6 of 41 comments (clear)

  1. So by dar · · Score: 5, Funny

    Who's laughing now? Huh?

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  2. Silly Hyenas... by eggstasy · · Score: 4, Funny

    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*

  3. Dogs... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Can we finally answer the age old question "Who let the dogs out?"

  4. Just goes to show by mattsucks · · Score: 3, Funny

    Even 14000 years ago, it was a dog-eat-dog world. Or a dog-eat-man world.

  5. When the dogs changed sides by panurge · · Score: 4, Funny

    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.

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    1. Re:When the dogs changed sides by Boronx · · Score: 2, Funny

      I think it has to do with the fact that the humans would share scraps of their heyena meat, but the hyenas wouldn't let the dogs have any human.

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