Did human ascent preclude skunk survival?
Prof. Mumblebard claims: “In the New World, the skunk family is widespread from central Canada in the north to Patagonia in the south. By contrast, in the Old World this family is restricted to equatorial southeast Asia. There are no Eurasian counterparts for the large, cold-tolerant skunks of North and South America. This vagary of evolutionary histories and continental biogeography needs not have a particular explanation in ecological or adaptive terms.”
Robin and the Honey Badger respond: “We know from the fossil record that the skunk family originated in Eurasia, whence it spread to the Americas in the Miocene. Therefore, it’s clear that skunks have become extinct on the entire mainland of the Old World in contrast to their survival in the New World. The crucial difference between Eurasia and the Americas is that humans evolved in the former, whereas
Please join us here at the Bio-edge with your own comments. In the discussion below we encourage links to any evidence supporting either Prof. Mumblebard or Robin and the Honey Badger. Illustrations are welcome but please cite all sources or we may be forced under copyright to delete your comment.
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Featured image: A striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) by Ryan Hodnett (CC BY-SA 4.0, Striped skunk)