fossilnut

Glider, I agree with the thrust of your posting. One note, however, on cheetahs. Ask most kids what the fastest animal in the world is and most will know it's the cheetah. But who gets the silver medal? The answer is the Pronghorn of the North American grasslands. Why did the Pronghorn evolve to be so fast? On the Canadian prairies Pronghorns are relatively common as once were their natural predators: wolves, coyotes, cougars, bears, etc . These predators, however, haven't any chance of catching a pronghorn. Pronghorns evolved on the North American grasslands before the last ice age and the cheetah is thought to have been the principal predator. I've stood on our grasslands and have herds of pronghorns whiz by and it sure makes me, as a human, feel like a sloth stuck to the ground. No, i don't want cheetahs re-introduced (or other animals) but it sure would be a rush to see a cheetah take off after a pronghorn.