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Tim Tyler's avatar

Re: What other single species has caused a mass extinction (except possibly, as you say, the first oxygen producer)?

Something like that happens whenever there is a Genetic Takeover.

For example, probably at one point only one individual used DNA. Now all known life on Earth is descended from that individual - and all the RNA-based organisms have gone extinct.

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Overcoming Bias Commenter's avatar

In fact I can only think of one sense in which multicellular organisms dominate:"A probably tiny initial lineage soon came to dominate the tiny tiny tiny tiny fraction of life on Earth that we humans find interesting to look at."

What other single species has caused a mass extinction (except possibly, as you say, the first oxygen producer)?

The relevant inequalities, it seems to me, are not of genetic or even memetic fitness but of power, as vague as that is.

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