HBH 62: Megafauna Extinction Mystery

HBH 62: Megafauna Extinction Mystery

In the late quaternary period, from about 50 to 10 thousand years ago, vast populations of large animals died out. Among them are some of the most iconic of prehistoric creatures -- mammoths, mastodons, woolly rhinoceri, dire wolves, smilodons, giant sloths, cave bears, and on and on. In North America, more than 70% of species over 40kg (about 100lb) disappeared. In South America, it was even more. Eurasia and Australia lost most of their large animals, including mammals, birds, and reptiles.

What happened?

Did the opportinistic pathogen known as Homo sapiens sapiens wipe them out? Or was it the climactic upheaval of the ending of the last ice age? Something else entirely?

Lively and ongoing debate surrounds this topic still. In this episode we go over the theories proposed and the relative merits of each.

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Episoder(119)

HBH 67: How to Build a Ghost: The Philip Experiment

HBH 67: How to Build a Ghost: The Philip Experiment

In 1972, eight people in Toronto invented a seventeenth-century ghost named Philip Aylesford. They gave him a face, a tragic history, and a personality—then gathered weekly to contact him. For nearly ...

27 Jul 22min

HBH 66: The Moon, In Fact

HBH 66: The Moon, In Fact

By special request from a brilliant young listener - an episode about the moon!Be careful what you wish for, because it's all here lol.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podc...

18 Mai 44min

HBH 65: Future Self Continuity and Bad Decisions

HBH 65: Future Self Continuity and Bad Decisions

How well do you know your future self?How much do you like yout future self?The answer to these two questions has implications for how you plan and provide for that person.Today, we cover the work of ...

5 Jan 11min

HBH 64: Homo Antecessor: The Disturbing Dead End Cannibals of Atapuerca

HBH 64: Homo Antecessor: The Disturbing Dead End Cannibals of Atapuerca

Recent finds in the Atapuerca site in Spain have confirmed and expanded our understanding of the tates and culinary practices of Homo antecessor.  This species is enigmatic and its place in the evolut...

12 Aug 202539min

HBH 63: Overkill! The Ongoing End of the Megafauna with Dr. Rhys Lemoine

HBH 63: Overkill! The Ongoing End of the Megafauna with Dr. Rhys Lemoine

Rhys Taylor Lemoine is a postdoctoral researcher in extinction, megafauna, rewilding, and novel ecosystems. Today he speaks to us about the late quaternary extinction. We discuss what megafauna are, t...

2 Aug 202531min

HBH 61: The Moral Circle (Best Humans Ever Intro)

HBH 61: The Moral Circle (Best Humans Ever Intro)

In this episode we begin a groundbreaking, never-before-attempted, altogether unprecedented series on the history of being human.  We are going to cover some of the best people who ever lived. Aside f...

14 Apr 202526min

HBH 60: The Ship of Theseus and Personal Identity Through Time

HBH 60: The Ship of Theseus and Personal Identity Through Time

On this episode we cover the famous, ancient "Ship of Theseus" thought experiment, and then stretch it into relevance for the very modern possibility of tranfering our psyche, and possibly our very id...

2 Mar 202522min

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