wonder 404

There have been many Lonesome Georges in natural history. Extinction has always been a part of life on Earth. Right now, there are others still hanging on, soon to be gone. Perhaps today, or rather its more like...What time is?

We pay attention to this particular death because of its fame. It gets its fame from 2 things. 1) Although his sub-species was thought extinct, George was found in 1972. He is believed to be the last of his kind. 2) The Galapagos Tortoises were one of the kinds of animals that apparently inspired Charles Darwin's thoughts on his theory during his HMS Beagle voyage.

That's why its news. So we know about and can feel loss at Lonesome George's passing. But we are displacing (a gentle way of saying driving to oblivion) many species everyday. Both by direct and indirect actions. For example, the global warming we contribute to is just one human cause. Population and consumption being others. We crowd out, hunt down and do much more to many other species.

And none of this is going to stop anytime soon, by the way.

Although there are still other sub-species of giant tortoise. The extinction of this one stands out as a reminder of Darwin's Theory. The world and life on it are an ecological system and inter-connected. The rate of extinctions and loss of bio-diversity in the world are ecological pressures against our own survival. If we wish to stick around in long run, we will have to manage ourselves taking that into account and acting accordingly. Not to do so would court our own extinction sooner rather than later. Let me point one thing out . While there are many of us as individuals... (on what was once a many species limb of our evolutionary family tree) we are today, the very youngest but last and only existing species of Hominids. In evolutionary terms... That's dicey. What it means is, if anything happens to us...That's it. It's the end of our line. Insert Porky Pig voice here: That's all folks.