Re: Large animal extinctions caused by early man

Richard C. Schmidt (
Thu, 04 Jul 1996 14:31:44 -0400

In my view, you have two problems.
1) Did, or did not the climatic changes that took place
during that time period cause the large scale die-out
of the larger animals?
2) What was the cause of the climatic changes during
this time period?


I feel that this entire discussion is confusing the two issues.
The fact is, the was a change in the climate 10-12,000 years ago.
We know this! The ice age ENDED!!!! Whether this was quick, in a
period of 1-3 years or less, or somewhat longer, is essentially
immaterial. IT HAPPENED!

Did this change in climate cause a die-off? i'm not sure, nor
is anyone else. But, these climatic changes ussually change
the habitate of the areas affected, and thus, the survivalability
of the inhabitants. Humans are, generally, better able to cope with
this than animals, and the large animals, have, traditionally,
been the ones that suffer the most! Humans had not done the
job in the previous 100,000 years in Eur-Asia, so there is no
reason to suspect that humans, in a relatively short time would
suddenly do so now. They may have helpped push the marginally
able over the edge though.

As to why the ice age ended, the climate changed, we, at present,
have NO DIRECT evidence! We open to suthe great guessing game.
A moderately sized metorite impact in the middle of the Atlantic
is as good a reason as any I've seen so far.If anyone else
has a theory, please put them forward. I've seen writings
about the effects, BUT this is the first guess as to the

~~ Richard C. Schmidt

Richard C. Schmidt

Or a cataclysmic earthquake, I'd accept with some despair.