I am trying to think of examples of species analogous to humans in the evolutionary record. Perhaps the closest match were the trilobites. They were the first animals to develop armor and slicing jaws, meaning they had an asymmetrical advantage over all the other soft bodies animal phyla (many of which they seem to have driven to extinction before we could figure out what they were). Other late comers like the arthropods eventually imitated their innovations and outlasted them. I wonder if humanity is just the first of many iterations of highly social/intelligent vertebrates. Another point to consider is the emergence of shelled creatures like trilobites seems to have been linked to changes in planetary geochemistry. Hominids emerged during a period of unprecedented low and fluctuating carbon dioxide levels (which may have helped tip the balance against megafauna as plantlife struggled to grow).
How does the theory of hunting large animals to extinction fit with the still existing large animals in Africa? Shouldn‘t African Elefants, Giraffes, Rhinos and other large animals be extinct now?
I am trying to think of examples of species analogous to humans in the evolutionary record. Perhaps the closest match were the trilobites. They were the first animals to develop armor and slicing jaws, meaning they had an asymmetrical advantage over all the other soft bodies animal phyla (many of which they seem to have driven to extinction before we could figure out what they were). Other late comers like the arthropods eventually imitated their innovations and outlasted them. I wonder if humanity is just the first of many iterations of highly social/intelligent vertebrates. Another point to consider is the emergence of shelled creatures like trilobites seems to have been linked to changes in planetary geochemistry. Hominids emerged during a period of unprecedented low and fluctuating carbon dioxide levels (which may have helped tip the balance against megafauna as plantlife struggled to grow).
How does the theory of hunting large animals to extinction fit with the still existing large animals in Africa? Shouldn‘t African Elefants, Giraffes, Rhinos and other large animals be extinct now?