is their hope for some other extinct animals?

It is heartening to see that something that was thought to be extinct without a doubt is found. what other species do you think might turn back up? 

http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=tiny-primate-rediscovered-in-indone-2008-11-19

There are many plants and animals not far from extinction. 

It would be interesting (and amusing to a certain extent) to discover that our abuse of the planet and its inhabitants led to our own downfall and extinction.

Sue

well in terms of the age of the earth and how long other animals were here we certainly haven't proven ourselves evolution wise. Ir would surprise me if we didnt' orchestrate our own demise eventually. wow i guess I am feeling rather pessimistic this morning

just saw Day the Earth Stood Still yikes! Sure wish it went on a little longer to tell us what them aliens want us to change and how they made it so in the movie

Reg. The Day the Earth Stood Still; the current movie is a remake. The original movie was made in the 50's. It's possible that it was a book, I dunno. Didn't google it!

We know what to do.  We just won't do it.

If you've only seen the remake, rent the original one.  The originals always seem to be better.

Sue

Thanks for the tip on that movie. Dh will probably watch it when it comes on cable. I'm a little old fashioned with remakes. I tend to prefer the originals.
Especially when it's movies from a different era, like this original of this one. There is so much CGI in movies these days, you might as well be watching a cartoon!

One of my favorite books is " The Sixth Extinction " by Richard Leakey and Roger Lewin. I have read it three times - the ultimate thriller. It outlines the five previous mass extinctions of yore. One where over 95% of all life went extinct . And it outlines the current mass extinction - the sixth - taking place right now .
This one is being engineered by us alone. These mass extinctions play a more important role than survival of the fittest in species selection , they are the major factor in deciding which plants and animals have survived to this day. After reading this book I see great wisdom in Mollison considering all plants native to earth and planting siberian pea shrub in Kentucky a good idea. If we are setting the stage for mass die offs , we can also set the stage for the seeds of future biodiversity. An organisms place within an established ecosystem is not based on its superior strengths over others as Darwin stated but its history within that food web. The interdependence of all life within that web withstands the introduction of invaders , even if that invader is a better predator of rodents than the local feline for instance . It is not just that feline vs the new predator but the whole local food web vs that new invader. This is true except for a few predators like us. We were just part of the local web on the Serengeti but when we migrated to N America this food web could not withstand the onslaught. Island ecosystems have been overrun by rats etc. But when an ecosystem is severely disrupted - as we have done to most of the planet - then the notion of native species againt invasive species is less of a factor - the web is already disrupted . We can help reverse this by increasing the biodiversity of earth , and setting the stage for the future establishment of new food webs , probably of which we will not be a part of if we dont change our ways . Maybe Gaia is getting ready to chew us up and spit us out. There is a genetic bottleneck in our fairly recent past that shows we were reduced to a few thousand people spread across Asia and Africa . That could happen again .

I have always said that we are the only animal on earth who's extinction would actually benefit the earth. While other animals provide some valuable input to the system, such as fertilizer, food for another animal, maintaining waterways, etc -- we pretty much just go around tearing things up.

Elephants do a great job of tearing things up too . Decimate a forest grove , then move on . The forest grove converts to grassland and antelope move in . After awhile the grass converts back to forest and the elephants return. So , Sepp and Lawton with their big equipment are kind of like pacaderms. Permies use pigs the same way . We better learn to tear things up right or we will prove that higher intelligence is an evolutionary deadend . Maybe gorillas and dolphins will do better .

Jeanine Gurley wrote:I have always said that we are the only animal on earth who's extinction would actually benefit the earth.

I'll try to find it to post the link, but in one video Geoff Lawton mentions it would not necessarily benefit the earth if humans went extinct at this point because so much of the damage we have done will not heal on its own without our help, it will accelerate. So unless one thinks desertification will benefit the earth, humans might need to stick around to fix the mess we've made. Amazingly productive ecologies were formed through the action of humans, human activity is not necessarily harmful.

Tyler Ludens wrote:

Jeanine Gurley wrote:I have always said that we are the only animal on earth who's extinction would actually benefit the earth.

I'll try to find it to post the link, but in one video Geoff Lawton mentions it would not necessarily benefit the earth if humans went extinct at this point because so much of the damage we have done will not heal on its own without our help, it will accelerate. So unless one thinks desertification will benefit the earth, humans might need to stick around to fix the mess we've made. Amazingly productive ecologies were formed through the action of humans, human activity is not necessarily harmful.

It's in the first of Paul's podcast, too. I think.

I think that conflating western industrial humans with capital-H Humans is very dangerous. It comes out in nearly everything we read, so we don't question it.

Although often traditional practices are destructive, much of the rest of the world is doing some level of Permaculture, we industrial humans just need to get with the damn program. Oh, and actively removing our boot from people's necks would be nice as well. They (and we) could do Permaculture much, much better that way.

Sorry for the rant. Should stay away from meaningless drivel.
W

William James wrote:

I think that conflating western industrial humans with capital-H Humans is very dangerous. It comes out in nearly everything we read, so we don't question it.

Very much agree. Not all human cultures are the same. Simply mentioning some of them may be less harmful than modern industrial human culture is not idealizing them, though often this seems to be the response in virtually any discussion of less-harmful human cultures the spectre of the Noble Savage rears his fictional head. Some human behaviors are harmful, some are beneficial. I think it's pretty easy to see that much of industrial human behavior is quite harmful. Some may be beneficial and perhaps we can keep that. But in my opinion we don't need to discard Homo sapiens sapiens as if we are a uniquely evil species.

I like this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nLKHYHmPbo

The glass is half full...

The glass is full. ½ liquid, ½ air.