Wow, that was really well done.

It's a keeper.

Good video, the punchline makes it a GREAT video.

It was a little hokey, but with a willing suspension of disbelief, it probably isn't too awfully far from the truth.

I bet the aliens really got off on our little planet and our little species.

Better than sea monkeys!

The bit about the mammoth was touching. I learned a lot.

Damn nice.
Would have been so much better with David Attenborough narrating, however.

The cavewomen's fur bikinis seem pretty accurate.

This is excellent, although it doesn't go it to a lot of detail it gives a good sense of perspective.

Music by Basil Poledouris, mostly Anvil of Crom from the Conan the Barbarian films.

"Most of these were eliminated by cunning men who would not be consumed."

Sounds badass!

I felt like I was at school again.

Awesome compilation of Hollywood film hilarity with fact, culminating in yet another debunking of creationist thought (or lack thereof).

Was that Bud Light? I didn't know Anheuser-Busch was so steeped in human history.

Awesome video, I especially like the stab to creationism at the end and the disclaimer in the beginning:
"The following essay reflects what appear to be the best estimates we can make according to what everything we know collectively indicates the world was like on one particular not so special day"

But the statement about humans killing off the megafauna is far from certain. They could have easily died out due to climate change or evolutionary pressures besides humans.

Also I really hope they can bring back the Aurochs through cloning their ancient DNA.
"The aurochs was far larger than most modern domestic cattle, being approximately 2 metres (6.6 ft) at the shoulder and weighing 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb)"
Though wiki also reveals another slight mistake in the video, being that our domestic cows were not bred from Aurochs, but from Indian Zebu.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs#Domestication_and_extinction

but that's just nit picking

>> ^cybrbeast:But the statement about humans killing off the megafauna is far from certain. They could have easily died out due to climate change or evolutionary pressures besides humans.

I find that scenario highly unlikely. These species had gone through scores of ice ages and warming periods, only to die exactly when the humans arrived at each continent by coincidence? At least, that's Jared Diamond's argument and I find it persuasive.

>> ^rychan:
>> ^cybrbeast:But the statement about humans killing off the megafauna is far from certain. They could have easily died out due to climate change or evolutionary pressures besides humans.
I find that scenario highly unlikely. These species had gone through scores of ice ages and warming periods, only to die exactly when the humans arrived at each continent by coincidence? At least, that's Jared Diamond's argument and I find it persuasive.


That's just correlation, a causal mechanism needs to be found. And it is unlikely that human populations were big enough to severely impact the population of these giant mammals stretched over a huge expanse. Elephant were never killed off and they mustn't be much harder to kill than mammoths.
The point is that we just don't really know exactly what was the cause. But it's not that unlikely that they were out competed by the smaller mammals that were gaining ground. That and extinction events are usually the reason why most of the branches of the evolutionary tree die out. Being really large is a good advantage in keeping isolated from the cold, but with the warming climate of the Holocene this advantage was lost. Also the trade off of being large is requiring a much larger intake of food.

Don't "That's just correlation" me. Do you think humans arriving in these locations and the animals going extinct had some external, shared cause? If not, then the correlation implies causation. And the mechanisms are many and obvious -- hunting, land use changes by humans, competition for prey with humans, etc.

Cite your claim that humans didn't have enough population density. I don't believe that. Humans expanded very rapidly in new worlds (1000 years = 40 generations, even a small growth rate would lead to saturation over one millennium. From crossing the ice bridge in Alaska humans managed to saturate both continents surprisingly quickly according to Jared Diamond).

And read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_megafauna
"Some proponents claim climate change alone caused extinction of the megafauna, but these arguments have to account for the fact that megaufaunal species comfortably survived two million years of climatic oscillations, including a number of arid glacial periods, before their sudden extinction. New evidence based on accurate optically stimulated luminescence and Uranium-thorium dating of megafaunal remains suggests that humans were the ultimate cause of the extinction of megafauna in Australia.[3] The dates derived show that all forms of megafauna became extinct in the same rapid timeframe — approximately 47,000 years ago — the period of time in which humans first arrived in Australia."

I was mostly referring to the northern megafauna, and mammoth in particular:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth#Extinction
A definitive explanation for their mass extinction is yet to be agreed upon. About 12,000 years ago, warmer, wetter weather began to take hold. Rising sea levels swamped the coastal regions. Forests replaced open woodlands and grasslands across the continent. The Ice Age was ebbing. As their habitats disappeared, so did the bison and the mammoth.

Whether the general mammoth population died out for climatic reasons or due to overhunting by humans is controversial. Another theory suggests that mammoths may have fallen victim to an infectious disease. A combination of climate change and hunting by humans is the most likely explanation for their extinction.
---
Exactly the point I've been making all these posts. It's just not sure yet, need more work. So you could still be right, but a real scientist would say WE JUST DON"T KNOW YET. Okay he might not shout it, but I will.

According to a well hidden article in Wikipedia, mammoths were actually hunted for their wool. Before the advent of mass production, humans hunted down entire mammoth herds to collect their fibers (cattle breeding was not invented yet). It was used to weave a ceremonial cloth that was warm and absorbant, quite useful in those hard times. It was called the Mam-Wow.

This caused the extinction of the mammoths.

Upvote for Atook, Lar and Tala making an appearance.

>> ^ravioli:
According to a well hidden article in Wikipedia, mammoths were actually hunted for their wool. Before the advent of mass production, humans hunted down entire mammoth herds to collect their fibers (cattle breeding was not invented yet). It was used to weave a ceremonial cloth that was warm and absorbant, quite useful in those hard times. It was called the Mam-Wow.
This caused the extinction of the mammoths.

Nice for you to feel that you are so sure of this. I'm glad that we have a thing called science which hasn't made up a totally satisfying theory yet, and therefor doesn't jump to conclusions.

Illegal video due to snuff at 9:40?

Thats not snuff, that is education. Like the rest of it but less interesting/more practical.

Good vid, narrator is awesome because he sounds exactly like educational video narrators used to sound, but with some kind of subversive subtext that tastes delightfully like the bitter anguish of creationists struggling to maintain their ignorance.

bah, the Aryan/Barbarian civ referred to at the very beginning were the CELTS.

Fast forward to 2009 the fastest growing / spreading race on the planet are the Mexicans.

>> ^cybrbeast:
>>^ravioli:
According to a well hidden article in Wikipedia, mammoths were actually hunted for their wool. Before the advent of mass production, humans hunted down entire mammoth herds to collect their fibers (cattle breeding was not invented yet). It was used to weave a ceremonial cloth that was warm and absorbant, quite useful in those hard times. It was called the Mam-Wow.
This caused the extinction of the mammoths.

Nice for you to feel that you are so sure of this. I'm glad that we have a thing called science which hasn't made up a totally satisfying theory yet, and therefor doesn't jump to conclusions.


I think it was a joke...mam-wow...sham-wow....

I got it!

>> ^Throbbin:
>> ^cybrbeast:
>> ^ravioli:
According to a well hidden article in Wikipedia, mammoths were actually hunted for their wool. Before the advent of mass production, humans hunted down entire mammoth herds to collect their fibers (cattle breeding was not invented yet). It was used to weave a ceremonial cloth that was warm and absorbant, quite useful in those hard times. It was called the Mam-Wow.
This caused the extinction of the mammoths.

Nice for you to feel that you are so sure of this. I'm glad that we have a thing called science which hasn't made up a totally satisfying theory yet, and therefor doesn't jump to conclusions.

I think it was a joke...mam-wow...sham-wow....
I got it!
Damn this strong weed, I read over the Mam-Wow when I replied. And the response was actually more towards rychan with whom I'd been having this debate.

was that person dead being flung around by the bull?..

Really interesting video. It is really too bad the bull thing kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.

"Fast forward to 2009 the fastest growing / spreading race on the planet are the Mexicans."

Mexico is a relatively wealthy nation with a below-average fertility rate of 2.37 births per woman. The world average is 2.6.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_territories_by_fertility_rate

Fertility rate world map: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fertility_rate_world_map_2.png

My prediction is that eventually white people, latinos, and black people will look like Angelina Jolie, Jessica Alba, and Halle Berry due to reprogenetics and easy stem cell-driven cosmetic medicine, and perspectives that frame things in terms of ethnicity will decline more dramatically.

I wonder what the asians were doing on that day. Seems the video just skipped over that general area. Maybe the Chinese were too busy eating noodles to give a interview.