6 Replies to “Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill”
In the Americas’ Late Pleistocene, animals such as the Giant Sloth and Mastodon along with many other mega-fauna died out, region after region, island after island, as stone age man spread across those two continents using sophisticated hunting skills and ‘Clovis point’ technology.
The Clovis people were no different from us moderns. Except we might be seen as a bit cleverer in being able to perfect exploding spears rather than stone ones. Yes, they would have loved those grenade tipped harpoons which nearly wiped out the Blue whale in the 20th century. Thank goodness for one of the greatest ever success stories of international law and conservation that managed to save this mega-mega being at the eleventh hour.
The problem now is to stop that other lethal anthropogenic invention: the increasing acidification of the oceans due to industrially produced CO2.
If we fail we can at least congratulate ourselves on having exterminated the largest and heaviest animal ever to evolve on this planet.
All too true – we are still finding more species seemingly exterminated by pre-industrial cultures including Talpanas, the mole duck of Hawaii. Especially appropriate to this page, which may just have survived into the period of european colonisation the Eyle’s Harrier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyles%27_Harrier
Thanks for the interesting link and for the Mole Duck — an extraordinary creature.
Yes I think they only found part of a skull, but have from that built a picture of it. Hawaii before human colonisation must have been truly remarkable, the mole duck is a very recent discovery, god knows what else is still to be found – if remains are available. Hawaii was pretty knackered even before europeans got there. If humanity had never developed and the natural world had continued unhindered what would the world look like right now without us?
The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. A compelling read and very well written.
Brilliant cartoon Ralph, says it all perfectly. Thanks!
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In the Americas’ Late Pleistocene, animals such as the Giant Sloth and Mastodon along with many other mega-fauna died out, region after region, island after island, as stone age man spread across those two continents using sophisticated hunting skills and ‘Clovis point’ technology.
The Clovis people were no different from us moderns. Except we might be seen as a bit cleverer in being able to perfect exploding spears rather than stone ones. Yes, they would have loved those grenade tipped harpoons which nearly wiped out the Blue whale in the 20th century. Thank goodness for one of the greatest ever success stories of international law and conservation that managed to save this mega-mega being at the eleventh hour.
The problem now is to stop that other lethal anthropogenic invention: the increasing acidification of the oceans due to industrially produced CO2.
If we fail we can at least congratulate ourselves on having exterminated the largest and heaviest animal ever to evolve on this planet.
All too true – we are still finding more species seemingly exterminated by pre-industrial cultures including Talpanas, the mole duck of Hawaii. Especially appropriate to this page, which may just have survived into the period of european colonisation the Eyle’s Harrier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyles%27_Harrier
Thanks for the interesting link and for the Mole Duck — an extraordinary creature.
Yes I think they only found part of a skull, but have from that built a picture of it. Hawaii before human colonisation must have been truly remarkable, the mole duck is a very recent discovery, god knows what else is still to be found – if remains are available. Hawaii was pretty knackered even before europeans got there. If humanity had never developed and the natural world had continued unhindered what would the world look like right now without us?
The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. A compelling read and very well written.
Brilliant cartoon Ralph, says it all perfectly. Thanks!