Re: K-T Theories

[stssram@st.unocal.com (Bob Myers)]

>  But I'd be mighty skeptical of a virus
> afflicting such a range of species as vanished at the K/T.  

And so you should.  However, no one has proposed that a single virus
afflicted a very wide range of species at the K/T, as has been mentioned
here several times before.  The idea is that lots of diseases were involved,
similar to the decimation of North American natives by Eurasian diseases -
and not all of them were even viral.

Can we stop beating up this straw man now?

In any case, Bakker does not depend solely on diseases for his notions.  As
we've seen in modern times, exotic flora & fauna can decimate native
ecosystems, drastically reducing diversity (please, no political comments).
I've seen hardly anyone mention this aspect of Bakker's ideas, since so many
people have been focusing on the disease aspect alone.  What is more, this
part of the idea is testable - does dinosaur diversity drop drastically at
the end of the Cretaceous or not?  Do we start seeing uniform faunas around
the world after a period of greater geographic diversity?


-- 
Bob Myers                         Unocal Tech. & Ops. I. S. Support
Internet: Bob.Myers@st.unocal.com P. O. Box 68076
Phone: [714] 693-6951             Anaheim, California  92817-8076