this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 69 points 9 months ago (5 children)

What preditor was so fast horses had to evolve to that extent??

[–] [email protected] 78 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Big cat. You're aware of the cheetah? Just picture that but not in Africa

[–] [email protected] 37 points 9 months ago (4 children)

You know what really caught me up: where are horses native to?

[–] [email protected] 65 points 9 months ago (1 children)

There are wild horses on the Mongolian steppes.

All other horses are domesticated. Even the free horses in USA and Australia are descendants of domesticated horses.

[–] [email protected] 55 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

You're right! But also, horses were native to North America but they went extinct 10,000 years ago and weren't introduced until much more recently.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago

Don’t tell that to a Mormon

[–] [email protected] 21 points 9 months ago (1 children)

PBS Eons has a couple good videos on both horse evolution and domestication.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago

It’s just a damn good series in general as well

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Equus simplicidens lived around 4 million years ago in North America, relying on speed, stamina, and herd behavior for protection from predators like early wolves and big cats. Their survival, much like modern equids, depended on strong social structures and collective awareness. Over time, this lineage spread to other continents via land bridges before becoming extinct in North America. evolved into the distinct species of horses, zebras, and donkeys and where reintroduced into the American continent by humans

-chatgpt + edits

[–] [email protected] 33 points 9 months ago (2 children)

ChatGPT? Then everyone should assume this is horse shit until verified.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Equus simplicidens, also known as the Hagerman horse, lived around 4 million years ago in North America and is considered an ancestor of modern horses, zebras, and donkeys[3][5]. These animals relied on speed, stamina, and herd behavior for protection against predators such as early wolves and big cats[3]. Their survival was supported by strong social structures and collective awareness[3]. Over time, Equus species migrated to other continents via land bridges[4]. They eventually went extinct in North America around 10,000 years ago during the Pleistocene extinction event[1][2][4]. Horses were later reintroduced to the continent by humans in the late 15th century[4].

Citations: [1] POST-PLEISTOCENE HORSES (EQUUS) FROM MÉXICO https://meridian.allenpress.com/tjs/article/74/1/Article%205/487323/POST-PLEISTOCENE-HORSES-EQUUS-FROM-MEXICO [2] Horses in North America: A Comeback Story | Blog | Nature - PBS https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/blog/american-horses-horses-in-north-america-a-comeback-story/ [3] The Hagerman Horse (Equus simplicidens) - National Park Service https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/equus_simplicidens.htm [4] Wild Horses as Native North American Wildlife https://awionline.org/content/wild-horses-native-north-american-wildlife [5] Park Archives: Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument https://npshistory.com/publications/hafo/index.htm [6] American Zebra (Equus simplicidens) - iNaturalist https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/317782-Equus-simplicidens [7] Hagerman Horse - Start Packing Idaho https://www.startpackingidaho.com/blog/hagerman-horse/

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (3 children)

So, what, did ChatGPT just rip this off wikipedia?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

I have no doubt that the majority of LLM models have trained on Wikipedia articles

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

I do have a custom instruction to use Wikipedia as a source where possible.

The difference is i dont need to know what i am looking for i can just ask some a basic question.

Llms are limited and for that reason vey hated on lemmy but they can be very useful when configured right.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Bro...

Just link the Wikipedia.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

That requires knowing the names of the pages i need which is practically never the case.

If i have plenty of time to do a deepdive sure but here i wanted a quick fact of the day kinda thing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Yes. If you check the other top Google results you'll frequently find the articles they plagiarized.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago (2 children)

My teachers used to say the same about Wikipedia.

I did edit heavily, this is 3 outputs combined including a fact check this using Wikipedia

It does not fail on such basic questions, “fact check this:” in a new instance works more reliably then asking a human.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

I think the hate is a bit unwarranted, but be wary that it does sometimes fail anything

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

and they're correct about not using wikipedia as a source, you use wikipedia as a summary and then verify the information in the ACTUAL sources it cites

[–] [email protected] 30 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Us. They basically tried to beat pursuit predation by outrunning the distance humans will be willing to track over.

It did not work, they went extinct in North America because of how much it did not work.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

Large predatory flightless birds probably didn't help either.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago

Ah, sweet home Caelid

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

"What are those? I know predatory and flightless birds, but both?"

I have looked it up before posting, I learned something new today.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

They are known as terror birds. Think of a ten foot tall ostrich with a flesh tearing beak like an eagle.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phorusrhacidae

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Human. Not for food, but because they always choose to breed on the Porcshe over the Toyota Hilux for racing.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

The wording here makes it sound like we hunted horses for the specific purpose of having sex on them, and honestly, I'd probably be running as fast as a car if that kept happening to me too!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago
[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Saber toothed tigers and shit

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

Saber toothed shit is a serious reason