Guns, Germs and Steel Interests

Diamond makes a statement in chapter one, pages 45 to 46, that about 15,000 years ago large
mammals such as mammoths, giant sloths, elephants and more, roamed the Americas. He
was attempting to find the cause for the mass extinction of these creatures. The first theory he
had was that climate change led to their extinction. It’s possible that the end of the ice age
happened too suddenly and they were unable to adjust. He then goes on to say that he doesn’t
believe this was the case as these animals had gone through many ice ages. He determines
that humans were most likely a large contributor to this mass extinction. He believes that these
animals were not used to seeing humans, so when people migrated to the Americas, these
animals didn’t recognize them as a threat. This made them easy targets and they were quickly
exterminated.

I thought this was a very interesting section because I had always heard that climate change
was the cause for this mass extinction. I love learning about the human- animal dynamic, even
in ancient times. I still think the change in climate definitely had a part to play but I also believe
that humans had a larger role than initially thought.  

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