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Letter: Letters: Sick to extinction

Published 5 October 1991

From JOHN BRUNNER

It has always puzzled me, especially in connection with the disappearance
of the dinosaurs, why reference is so seldom made to disease and/or parasites
(‘Extinction: bad genes or bad luck?’, 14 September). Could not, for example,
the creation of a land bridge by lowered sea level have introduced them
to non-resistant species? (It’s happened often among humans.)

I also wonder about the role of birds . . .

John Brunner South Petherton, Somerset

Issue no. 1789 published 5 October 1991

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