Should evolution be taught in schools?

[Cirdan]

Originally posted by Lief Erikson
This isn't really clear . . . Are you going by the oasis theory that Dunadan suggested? Suggesting that these creatures could exist in patches of territory? The changes were widespread, swift and intense. I don't recall hearing anything in any of the sources I've seen on this thread that describe the existence of such patches. These patches also would have to be big to support many species of life.

Which life are you speaking of? OI have not seen any fossil data to support any arguements either way regarding whether any oasis (anti-oasis?) of desert life existed. I haven't seen any data regarding what species were lost and repopulated.

[b]

E. Lioubimtseva

The Holocene global warming effected everywhere in the Sahara-Gobi desert belt in significant increase of precipitation (and P/PET ratio). Despite some temporal variability of the start and pick of the optimum climatic conditions in the Holocene (the Holocene Climatic Optimum - HCO), a significant increase of humidity generally occurred between 9-9.5 ka and 6.5-5.5 ka, varying according to regional geographical conditions. The HCO increase of humidity caused by reactivating of monsoons led to almost total disappearance of the desert landscapes both in tropical and temperate zones. In the Sahara climatic optimum of 8.5 - 6.5 ka resulted in almost 50 times increase of precipitation (by 200-300 mm) compare to the present (Petit-Maire, 1989). The Saharo-Sahelian boundary shifted at those times up to 23-23° N, that meant by 500 km to the north compared to its present-day osition and by 1000 km compared to the LGM situation (Petit-Ma ire, 1989; Petit-Maire et al., 1995).

23 degrees north leaves quite a bit more Saharan desert than a "patch".