Anon Archived Researchers consider whether supernovae killed off large ocean animals at dawn of Pleistocene (phys.org)
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Anon Archived Researchers consider whether supernovae killed off large ocean animals at dawn of Pleistocene (phys.org)
submitted ago by 2905584?
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[–] 15510671? [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Random spitball idea: A giant carnivore is much more vulnerable to a food-web collapse than a giant generalist.
[–] AnthraxAlex ago (edited ago)
They claim the reason it died out was because its large size made it receive a higher dose of radiation from supernovae than smaller animals causing it to be vulnerable to higher mutation and cancer rates. But other large marine animals from the same era survived to become modern marine mammals.
[–] 15510825? [S] 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
Possibly not receive, but it's plausible that a predator could end up with more damage long term. Same way eagles get high concentrations of toxins that fuck with reproductive rates, gobbling up big fish that have themselves consumed high quantities of tainted matter.
The unmeasurable aspect would be general environmental sensitivity. One could extrapolate based on the effects of radiation on modern sharks, but there's no megaladons about to get the direct data.