What could possibly make the megafauna's animals in the Americas survive?
And what could this change the colonization, and something else?
And what could this change the colonization, and something else?
CHALLENGE: Surviving Megafauna in Americas
- Thread starter seleucusVII
- Start date
No humans in America, maybe...
But when the europeans reach the americas (in this case), what happens next?
But when the europeans reach the americas (in this case), what happens next?
But cannot the europeans get the mamooths, maybe, to work in plantations, or another animal?
Max Sinister
Banned
I wonder whether some of said animals could be tamed, or even domesticated.
If the Indians had a (totemistic?) belief that you may not kill certain animals...
If the Indians had a (totemistic?) belief that you may not kill certain animals...
Hapsburg
Banned
It would freak the crap out of christian european colonists, that's for sure. Their early colonies would probably have an ever harder time surviving, as, on top of the bad wealther and poor soil, there would be some really pissed off sabretoothed cats (assuming they survived to the 1600s, they'd probably spread to the east coast). Think Tsavo Maneater type of shit.seleucusVII said:
But could the settlers in America survive to the animals?
I'll try to do a TL for that, what do you think?
I'll try to do a TL for that, what do you think?
NapoleonXIV
Banned
This is the type of thing that reminds us that it's not absolutely proven that man was the main reason the megafauna disappeared, particularly in NA, where there were less people. Up until about 1970 IIRC, climate change was given the main credit.
What if this was the case? then man might actually help some of the megafauna to survive, by adopting cubs or young of beasts that were dying out due to habitat decline caused by the retreat of the glaciers and the lack of tundra; tundra which gives rise to great numbers of limited species instead of limited numbers of numerous species and supports very specialized predators.
Yeh, I know, implausible as all hell, but just think of how much more respect the average Indian would get from the colonists if he was walking along with his own sabretooth when he met them.
What if this was the case? then man might actually help some of the megafauna to survive, by adopting cubs or young of beasts that were dying out due to habitat decline caused by the retreat of the glaciers and the lack of tundra; tundra which gives rise to great numbers of limited species instead of limited numbers of numerous species and supports very specialized predators.
Yeh, I know, implausible as all hell, but just think of how much more respect the average Indian would get from the colonists if he was walking along with his own sabretooth when he met them.
Max Sinister
Banned
@Napoleon: Jared Diamond points out that there have been many climate changes during the history of NA, and still the megafauna survived all of them - except that one which concluded with the arrival of homo sapiens. Coincidence? It's not completely impossible, but still...
The theory I heard that seems most plausible is that when humans brought along their dogs with them to Americas, the dogs brought along diseases to which the mammals of the Americas were not immune. Combined with hunting and climate change, this probably brought them down.
So I'd say, if you can maintain contact of the animal species between the Americas and Eurasia, then you'll be good--alas, that's rather implausible without a major geographic change.
So I'd say, if you can maintain contact of the animal species between the Americas and Eurasia, then you'll be good--alas, that's rather implausible without a major geographic change.
Paul Martin has written extensively (and persuasively in my opinion) that humans did in the megafauna. Diamond basically summarizes Martin's arguments. Martin suggests in his latest book that we should set up preserves in NA with related or ecologically similar animals to restore the Pleistocene fauna as much as possible.
seleucusVII said:
Perhaps. But if elephants are any indicator, the mammoths would have been too skittish after millenia of human contact to be easily catchable/tamable. And they're notoriously hard to breed in captivity. Not to mention they eat a lot more than an ox or a plowhorse.
Thermopylae said:
Hmm? Asian elephants have been constantly tamed through the ages. I don't see why mammoths, barring an enormous difference in temprement, would be much different.