Re: impacts are cool!

["Tony Canning" <tonyc@foe.co.uk>]

On Oct 30, 12:38am, Chris Campbell wrote:
>
> But if we had all of these nasty effects, *why* did frogs sail right on
> through unscathed?  Sorry to keep bleating on about this, but you need
> to explain this.  If you have impact winter, or acid rain, or noxious
> fumes, or anything else frogs will be the first to go.  We can see it
> today with much milder concentrations of the chemicals and conditions in
> question; frogs bite it before anything else, almost unilaterally.  If
> the impact was this bad, the froggies *must* have gotten nailed AND THEY
> DIDN'T!!!

>-- End of excerpt from Chris Campbell


What is the source of your assertion that frogs are the first to go?
I've scanned quite a few databases of extinction for different countries
and in every case the number of amphibian species recorded as extinct
is far less than mammals, birds or invertebrates.  Many (but not all)
amphibian populations are currently in decline - acid rain may be a
factor in some cases, certainly not all.

Don't forget that the majority of amphibians can survive long periods
at very low temperatures without food - we're talking months, even
years here.  If the asteroid hit in November the most northern populations
would already be safely in hibernation where they could ride out the worst
few months of the impact consequences.

Maybe frogs are tougher than we think..


Tony

Tony Canning
tonyc@foe.co.uk