The Next Species: The Future of Evolution in the Aftermath of Man

by Michael Tennesen

spread of, 90–91, 94–98, 101, 209

  and superbugs, 102–6

  DMZ Forum, 164

  Dobson, Andrew, 35

  Dolan, Josh, 205, 206

  Dolly (cloned sheep), 257

  Doomsday Clock, 267

  Droser, Mary L., 174

  drought, 148

  Dryas flower, 246

  Dust Bowl, 148, 150

  dust storms, 144, 147

  Earth:

  atmospheric pressure on, 219

  formation of, 25

  habitable zone of, 270

  origins of life on, 26–29, 226

  transformation of, 246

  ebola, 89–91

  ecosystems, interactions of, 133–34

  ecosystem services, 129, 132–33, 134, 135, 136

  ecotourism, 208–9, 212

  Ediacaran period, 16, 30

  Edwards Plateau, Texas, 46–47

  Eemian interglacial period, 246

  Ehrlich, Anne H., 67

  Ehrlich, Paul R., The Population Bomb, 67

  Eiffel, Gustave, 109

  elephants:

  rewilding, 207, 209, 210

  tuskless, 35–36

  elephant seals, 113, 122–24, 192–93, 196

  Eli Lilly, 135–36

  Elkhorn Slough, Monterey Bay, 172

  elks, 211

  El Niño, 116

  Enriquez, Juan, 251, 255

  Ensatina salamander, 254

  Eocene climatic optimum, 172

  Erwin, Douglas H., 6, 20, 111, 156, 157, 159, 271

  Estes, Jim, 152, 184–86, 187, 268

  European Jews:

  genetic diseases of, 255

  IQs of, 255

  isolation of, 254–55

  Evans, Edward, 41

  evolution:

  adaptation in, 3, 34–36, 122, 163, 239

  and agriculture, 77–80, 93

  complexity in, 33

  Darwin’s theory of, 27, 32–33

  and extinction, 6, 15–16

  and immune response, 94

  of large animals, 199

  of man, 56–57, 238–39

  movement developed in, 33

  mutation in, 238, 240

  persistence of, 239

  selection in, 264

  and specialization, 4

  study of fossils in, 15

  teeth as evidence of, 31–32, 52, 238

  of tools, 236–37

  vision developed in, 33

  wonder of, 5

  extinction, 264–65

  as creative force, 6, 11, 15–16, 21

  hunting species to, 125

  multiple causes of, 271

  as normal process, 8, 151, 266

  and rewilding, 205–13

  top-down approach in, 184, 187

  falcon, peregrine, 209–10

  Fanning, Capt. Edmund, 182–83

  ferns, 159

  Fertile Crescent, 75

  fertilizers, 72–74, 83, 84–85, 112

  fishing:

  hook-and-line, 176

  industrial, 176–78, 186

  flash floods, 20

  flu/influenza, 105

  Fobos-Grunt (Phobos-Ground), 228–29

  Fogel, Robert, 252

  forests, 136–41

  cloud forest, 3

  conifers, 159

  deforestation, 139–40

  rain forest, 158

  fossils, 14, 160

  preservation of, 266

  in rock layers, 15

  and teeth, 31–32, 201, 203, 214

  FOXP2 speech gene, 62

  fracking, 49

  Fraser, Nicholas C., 161

  Fray Jorge National Park, Chile, 158

  Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility, Japan, 166

  Fundación Naturaleza y Hombre (Nature and Man Foundation), 212

  Future of Humanity Institute, 258

  G., Mr. Yu., 89–90

  Gadgil, Madhav, 134

  Galápagos Islands, 21, 27, 37–38, 157, 179, 253

  Gambi, Maria Cristina, 173

  gastropods, 14

  Gause, Georgii, 262–63, 268

  genetic engineering, 263–64

  genetic manipulation, 256–57

  genomic sequencing, 256

  geologic time scale, xi

  geology, 15, 39–41

  Gilbert, Joseph Henry, 72, 74

  Gilly, William, 108–13, 114, 115, 117–21, 124, 125, 193, 196

  Ginkgo biloba, 159

  Glen Canyon Dam, 146

  Glossopteris (seed fern), 41

  Gondwana, 13

  gonorrhea, 104

  Googleplex, 255–56

  Gordon, H. L., 56

  gorgonopsid, 160

  Gotham Greens, 86

  Gould, John, 39

  Gould, Stephen Jay, 237, 265

  Wonderful Life, 31–32

  Grant, Peter, 239–40, 253–54

  Gray, Tom, 56

  grazing:

  controlled, 46

  uncontrolled, 47, 48

  Great Ape Trust, Des Moines, 61–62

  Great Basin Desert, 206

  greenhouse effect, 25–26

  greenhouse gases, 49, 87, 161, 173

  Greenland, and climate change, 248

  green revolution, 74, 77–80

  Greger, Michael, 95, 105

  Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas, 11–14, 32

  Guatemala, deforestation in, 139–40

  Gulf of California, 107–13, 114–16, 118–21, 124–25, 189

  gypsum, 83

  Haber-Bosch process, 84

  Haeckel, Ernst, 57

  Haldane, J. B. S., 26

  halocarbons, 228

  hammerstones, 58

  Hancock, George Allan, 214

  Hanlon, Roger, 195

  Harpending, Henry, 237, 238–39, 252–53, 254–55, 257

  Hartmann, Thom, 105

  Hatfield, Brian, 186

  Hearst, Jonena, 11–14, 16, 22, 23

  Heck cattle, 212

  Heimbauer, Lisa, 62

  Helicoprion shark, 18

  Hlusko, Leslea, 51, 53, 242

  HMS Beagle, 37–39

  Hofmann, Gretchen, 171–72

  Holland, Kim, 190

  Holloway, Marguerite, 64

  Homo erectus, 50, 57, 58, 62

  Homo floresiensis, 252

  Homo habilis, 50, 55–56, 57

  Homo neanderthalensis, 56

  Homo sapiens:

  becoming a new species, 8, 234, 254

  diseases of, 75, 76, 89–106, 209, 238, 239

  ecological force of, 199

  at edge of extinction, 243–44

  evolution of, 56–57, 58–60, 236–40, 252–53

  extinction as possibility for, 8, 151–52

  intelligence of, 254–55

  language of, 60, 62–63, 252

  migration of, 239

  and other species, 50, 58–59

  population growth of, 5, 22, 59, 63–67, 71, 75, 76, 88, 145, 176, 262–63, 266–67

  as purpose of life, 251

  single species of, 253

  Hoover (Boulder) Dam, 142, 146

  horses:

  domestic, 213–14

  Konik, 212

  Przewalski’s, 206–7

  Retuerta, 212

  wild, 206, 207

  Huey, George H. H., 125

  Human Genome Project, 256

  Humboldt Current, 108, 113

  humpback chub, 146

  hunter-gatherers, 75, 94, 125

  Hurd, Frank, 115, 178, 181, 245

  Hurricane Mitch, 140–41

  Ice Age, 48, 203, 214, 245, 249–50

  iguanas, 188

  India, population growth in, 65, 134

  Indo-European language family, 240–41

  Indricotherium, 202

  Industrial Revolution, 22, 39–40, 64

  insects, mass extinctions of, 19

  interglacial period, current, 245

  International
HapMap Project, 237

  International Shark Attack File, 190

  International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 133, 189, 191, 207

  International Union of Geological Sciences, 11

  International Whaling Commission, 187

  interplanetary travel, 218, 233–35

  Io, moon of Jupiter, 234

  iridium, 16

  Ischia island, Gulf of Naples, 173

  island biogeography, 42–43

  island populations, 95

  Isle of Rum, 188

  Jackson, Rob, 46–47, 48–49, 151, 250, 257

  jaguars, 136–39

  jellyfish, 178–81

  Johanson, Donald, 56

  Jolie, Angelina, 256

  Jones, Sir William, 240

  juniper trees, 47–48

  Jupiter, moons of, 234

  Ke Chung Kim, 164

  Keeling Curve, 64

  kelp, 185–86

  Kennedy, John F., 222

  Kennedy, Robert F. Jr., 130

  Kepler planet-finding spacecraft, 235

  Klimley, Peter, 189

  Knoll, Andrew, 21, 29, 30

  Korea, demilitarized zone, 164–65

  Kornegay, Julia, 135

  Krakatoa, 155–57, 159

  krill, 167, 169

  Kyoto Protocol, 249

  La Brea Tar Pits, 214–17

  lactose tolerance, 240–43, 254

  Lake Guri, Venezuela, 187–88

  Lake Manly, Death Valley, 204

  Lake Toba, Sumatra, 243–44

  language:

  communication, 252

  cuneiform, 75

  and primates, 60–62

  speech, 62–63

  Las Vegas, Nevada, 141–50

  Latin America, populations in, 66

  Laurentia, 13

  Lawes, John Bennet, 72, 73, 74

  “Lazarus taxa,” 173–74

  Leakey, Louis and Mary, 51, 55, 56, 57

  Leakey, Richard, 32

  Le Boeuf, Burney, 123

  Leopold, Aldo, 149

  Liebig, Justus von, 72, 73

  life:

  animal, beginning of, 30–31

  bacterial form of, 29

  continuing our ways of, 262–63

  cycles of, 30

  evolution of, 29

  origins on Earth, 26–29, 226, 251

  phyla (plans) of, 32

  simulated, 259–60

  life expectancy, 253

  lions, 210, 214

  Livingstone, David, 97

  llamas, 207, 210

  locavore, 134–35

  López, Lawrence, 43

  Los Angeles:

  population boom of, 63–64

  water diversions for, 147–48

  Lost City, 28

  Lowe, Chris, 191

  Lowell, Percival, 218–19

  Lucas, Cathy, 180

  Lucy, 56

  lupine, prairie, 153–54

  Lyell, Charles, Principles of Geology, 39

  Lyme disease, 91, 98–102

  Lynch, Jonathan, 79

  Lystrosaurus, 21, 62–63, 160

  Maasai people, 241–43

  machines, turnover of power to, 261

  malaria, 94, 95, 97, 239

  man. See Homo sapiens

  mangroves, 141

  Mann, Charles C., 244, 268, 269

  manta rays, 119, 125

  Mapimí Biosphere Reserve, 206

  Mariner orbital mission, 219

  Markaida, Unai, 116

  Mars:

  atmospheric pressure on, 219

  canals on, 218, 219

  establishing factories on, 227–28

  humans living on, 225, 227

  and interplanetary trade, 224

  life on, 220–22, 226–27, 234

  mining materials on, 224

  prize for landing on, 229

  producing greenhouse gases on, 227–28

  as Red Planet, 219

  similarities to Earth, 220, 222

  surface crust of, 226

  terraforming on, 227

  travel to, 218, 222–26, 228, 233–34

  water ice on, 220, 221

  Marshall, Charles R., 141–42, 199, 211

  Mars Odyssey, 220

  Mars One, 230–32

  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, 221, 225

  Masaya, Lucrecia, 139–40

  Masoy, Joseph, 34

  mass extinctions:

  causes of, 6, 213, 271

  lessons learned from, 8, 15–16

  new species from, 263–67

  predators in, 184

  recoveries from, 6, 152, 162–63, 213

  sixth, possibility of, 5, 7, 213, 250

  Maya forest, 138

  Mayr, Ernst, 38

  McClain, Craig R., 177–78, 193

  McCouch, Susan, 79–80

  McKay, Christopher, 221

  McKittrick Canyon, Texas, 12–14, 18

  McMurdo Station, Antarctic, 171–72

  meat, 86–87, 103

  meat trap, 205

  megafauna:

  demise of, 199–202

  development of, 202–3

  rewilding of, 205–13

  methane, 19, 49, 87, 201, 247

  mice, white-footed, 209

  Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 28

  Milky Way, 25

  Miller, Gifford H., 250

  Miller, Stanley, 26

  mind mapping, 258–60

  Mir program, 229

  mirrors, reflecting sunlight via, 228

  moa, giant, 200

  monkeys, howler, 188

  Monterey Canyon, 178–79, 193

  Morafka, David, 206

  Morris, James, 165

  mountain lions, 163, 206

  Mount Rushmore, 18

  Mount St. Helens, 152–55, 156–57, 159, 181

  Mount Wilson Observatory, 219

  Myers, Norman, 135–36

  National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, 193

  natural resources, decimation of, 5, 268

  Nature Conservancy, 139, 141, 182–83

  Neanderthal fossils, 56, 58–60, 62, 76, 239, 252, 266

  Neander Valley, Germany, 56

  nematode worms, 30

  neural mapping, 258–60

  Neves, Eduardo Góes, 80–81

  New York:

  population growth of, 64

  water supply, 129–31, 249

  New Zealand, loss of large animals in, 200

  Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania, 33–36

  Ngorongoro Crater, 34–36

  nitrogen, 72, 83, 84–85, 129, 178

  Njau, Jackson, 53–54, 55

  North America, extermination of large animals in, 200–202

  nuclear tests, 77, 85

  nuclear weapons, 267–68

  oceans, 167–83

  acidification of, 169–70, 171, 172–75

  and climate change, 113, 248–49

  dead zones in, 109–10, 112

  deep dives in, 122–24

  deep-scattering layer, 112

  deep-sea vents, 178

  geyser systems in, 27–28, 30

  low-oxygen and anoxic zones in, 112, 120–21, 124, 125, 161

  mining in, 178

  pollution of, 167

  pressures on, 181

  sounds in, 170

  octopus, giant Pacific, 195

  oil reserves, 248

  Okin, Greg, 148

  Olduvai Gorge, Africa, 50–52, 54–55, 57–58, 241

  Ollemoita, Miriam, 241–43

  Oostvaardersplassen, Netherlands, 212

  Opabinia, 32

  Oparin, Alexander, 26

  orange roughy (slimehead), 177

  Ordovician extinction, 6

  Orellana, Francisco de, 96

  Ostfeld, Richard S., 91–93, 98–103

  otters, sea, 184–87

  overfishing, 111, 115, 125, 167, 175–78

  overpopulation, 5

 
oxygen, 29–30

  in oceans, 110–13

  ozone shield, 30

  Pack, Adam, 168

  Palau, Republic of, 179

  Paleo-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM), 172–73

  paleontology, 15

  Palmer, Douglas, 264

  Palmyra Atoll, 172, 182–83

  Pangaea, 13, 37, 41–42, 44, 156, 158–59

  Panzee (chimpanzee), 62

  Paranthropus boisei, 50

  Park, Mungo, 97

  Pasqualini, Angelica, 85–86

  PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), 77

  pelycosaurs, 18

  Permian extinction:

  evidence of, 16, 18, 271

  flash floods caused by, 20

  golden spikes of, 11

  new life emerged from, 21–22, 33, 157, 181

  oxygen deprivation in, 113

  and Pangaea, 13

  recovery from, 22, 152, 156, 160–61

  sanctuaries in, 158

  stagnant oceans in, 111

  supervolcano as cause of, 6, 19–20, 73

  Permian period, 13–14, 17–18

  continents in, 37, 156

  ocean acidification in, 173–74

  Permian-Triassic boundary, 18–19, 21, 174

  pesticides, 133

  pharmaceuticals, 135–36

  Phillips, John, 18–19

  Phillips, Nathan, 49

  Phoenix (Mars lander), 220

  phonolite, 58

  phosphorus, 72, 73, 83–84, 178

  photosynthesis, 29, 30

  phytoplankton, 175, 177

  phytosaur, 161

  Piedmont region, 82–83

  Pikaia, 32, 36

  Pizarro, Francisco, 95

  plankton, 112, 175

  plants:

  domestic, 213

  invasive species, 46–48

  medicines derived from, 135–36

  Pleistocene era, 216

  Pleistocene megafauna, rewilding, 209, 210

  PM10 atmospheric dust, 147

  polar ice, melting, 171, 193

  pollinators, 133

  pollution, 76–77

  Potts, Rick, 59–60

  Poulton, Paul, 77–79

  Powell’s Cave, Texas, 46–47

  predators:

  absence of, 188, 193

  adaptations to avoid, 190

  apex, 187

  reintroducing, 206, 207

  roles of, 185–87, 188

  Proconsul africanus, 56

  Proffitt, Tomos, 58

  pteropods, 175

  quinine, 97

  Randel, John Jr., 64

  rats, pack (wood), 203–4

  reefs, 14, 173, 174

  Regis High School, New York, 85–86

  rewilding, 205–13

  and ecotourism, 208–9

  and megafauna, 209–10

  rhino, Tibetan woolly, 202–3

  Richter, Dan, 82–85, 87

  Ricketts, Ed, 114, 117–19, 120

  Ripple, William J., 201

  Rivera, Tony, 137

  Roberts, Callum, 175, 182, 193

  robots, 267

  Rodríguez, Lily O., 4–5

  Romo, Mónica, 43–44

  Rosi-Marshall, Emma J., 103, 146

  Ross Island, Antarctica, 171–72

  Rothamsted Research, England, 71–74, 76, 77–80, 84–85

  Rothberg, Jonathan, 230

  Russell, Michael, 28

  Safe Drinking Water Act (1974), 130