PLEISTOCENE DINOSAURS - PACIFIC HOLOCAUST

["D.W.Naish" <dwn194@soton.ac.uk>]

Someone (sorry, I didn't record or remember your name) said that loads of
Hawaiian island birds went extinct when the islands were invaded by humans.
Recent discoveries and research have shown that many more species went extinct
than initially thought. It is now known that rallids underwent massive
speciation on the islands of the Pacific - one of the biggest evolutionary
radiations in tetrapod history in fact - but that just about all of them were
killed off by humans and the predators they introduced. Most of the rails were
flightless ground nesters, thus very vulnearable to these new dangers.

How many species were lost?

The most current, and probably most accurate, estimate is OVER 3000
SPECIES...   hang your head in shame!

"Counsellor! What is the date!"   "What?"  "The date! What date is it?"  "It is
4279.88"  "4279.88..... 4279..... 88?"

(45? 50?)

DARREN NAISH - TODAY'S FINAL EPISODE