The Next Species: The Future of Evolution in the Aftermath of Man (48 page)

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

Sagan, Carl,
229

Salt Lake Oil Field,
214

Salton Sea,
149

Samoans, size of,
254

Santa Fe Trail,
142

Santa Rosalía, Mexico,
107
–10,
117

Sarcosuchus imperator
(SuperCroc),
162

SARS,
91
,
92
,
101

Savage-Rumbaugh, Sue,
61
–62

Schiaparelli, Giovanni,
218