passenger pigeon and rocky mountain locust extinction

[bg7]

Originally Posted by Milky Way Resident

Sorry if this is a silly question, but I'm not sure I fully understanding the part about needing a large colony to breed. If you have a 100 passenger pigeons divided equally between male and female, how would they not be able to reproduce and eventually expand their colony?

The poster is referring to behavioral events/adaptation. Not simply the physical presence of 1 male and 1 female = breeding capability.


Think of a bee colony which also works only in certain ways requiring mass interactive behavior.

[NVplumber]

Originally Posted by Zoisite

Below at the link is the story of how a billion passenger pigeons became extinct. They were not only killed for meat. They were considered a threatening pest that MUST be eradicated and were deliberately and systematically exterminated right down to the very last bird. It's actually a bit of a horror story when you read about the lengths people went to and the various methods people used to slaughter them.

https://www.damninteresting.com/exti...enger-pigeons/


Other types of pigeons were not considered a threat to livelihood and economies.


.

mmmm. A similar method of systematic, genocidal slaughter occured with the buffalo. Humans can be very....efficient...in their efforts where killing is concerned.