Sean B. Carroll

That's a hugely important, maybe sort of philosophical question. I think, you know, you said earlier about how nature kind of works these things out. Let's take something like a beaver and you could say, all right, a beaver builds a dam and that dam diverts some water. And, you know, does that impact other creatures? It certainly does.

That's a hugely important, maybe sort of philosophical question. I think, you know, you said earlier about how nature kind of works these things out. Let's take something like a beaver and you could say, all right, a beaver builds a dam and that dam diverts some water. And, you know, does that impact other creatures? It certainly does.

um and and maybe it impacts you know the ability of fish to get around in some places and things like that but it also in creating these wetlands you see all sorts of plant life that thrives in the wetlands and then creatures that invade these places and um or exploit these places and so

um and and maybe it impacts you know the ability of fish to get around in some places and things like that but it also in creating these wetlands you see all sorts of plant life that thrives in the wetlands and then creatures that invade these places and um or exploit these places and so

um and and maybe it impacts you know the ability of fish to get around in some places and things like that but it also in creating these wetlands you see all sorts of plant life that thrives in the wetlands and then creatures that invade these places and um or exploit these places and so

beavers you know are often referred to as you know one of nature's engineers you know their net effect is you know to create habitat for lots of different things so we you know in a lot of places we took out beaver and we straightened out rivers we straightened out waterways we didn't want beaver dams on our you know on our on our waterways um we wanted you know unfettered access to this but

beavers you know are often referred to as you know one of nature's engineers you know their net effect is you know to create habitat for lots of different things so we you know in a lot of places we took out beaver and we straightened out rivers we straightened out waterways we didn't want beaver dams on our you know on our on our waterways um we wanted you know unfettered access to this but

beavers you know are often referred to as you know one of nature's engineers you know their net effect is you know to create habitat for lots of different things so we you know in a lot of places we took out beaver and we straightened out rivers we straightened out waterways we didn't want beaver dams on our you know on our on our waterways um we wanted you know unfettered access to this but

You know, it's hard for me to see the beaver in a negative light because, you know, it has done this particular job for eons and all sorts of creatures became dependent upon that job. And then we came in and essentially took the beavers out of the picture and lots of things, you know, suffered for that.

You know, it's hard for me to see the beaver in a negative light because, you know, it has done this particular job for eons and all sorts of creatures became dependent upon that job. And then we came in and essentially took the beavers out of the picture and lots of things, you know, suffered for that.

You know, it's hard for me to see the beaver in a negative light because, you know, it has done this particular job for eons and all sorts of creatures became dependent upon that job. And then we came in and essentially took the beavers out of the picture and lots of things, you know, suffered for that.

So it's, it's often the case, you know, it's, I mean, I'm going to try to see if I can come up with some other example where you might wonder about, I'll jump through to elephants. Okay. You can look at elephants are incredibly majestic creatures, but they're pretty tough on forests. Elephants are, We'll knock down a lot of trees.

So it's, it's often the case, you know, it's, I mean, I'm going to try to see if I can come up with some other example where you might wonder about, I'll jump through to elephants. Okay. You can look at elephants are incredibly majestic creatures, but they're pretty tough on forests. Elephants are, We'll knock down a lot of trees.

So it's, it's often the case, you know, it's, I mean, I'm going to try to see if I can come up with some other example where you might wonder about, I'll jump through to elephants. Okay. You can look at elephants are incredibly majestic creatures, but they're pretty tough on forests. Elephants are, We'll knock down a lot of trees.

And I've been in areas in Africa where it's pretty astounding what elephants can do to a forest and probably can do it in a fairly short period of time. And if you're knocking down trees, you're probably taking away nesting sites from birds. You may be taking away food from other animals. So.

And I've been in areas in Africa where it's pretty astounding what elephants can do to a forest and probably can do it in a fairly short period of time. And if you're knocking down trees, you're probably taking away nesting sites from birds. You may be taking away food from other animals. So.

And I've been in areas in Africa where it's pretty astounding what elephants can do to a forest and probably can do it in a fairly short period of time. And if you're knocking down trees, you're probably taking away nesting sites from birds. You may be taking away food from other animals. So.

the knock-on effects of some of these creatures are negative for for other creatures but you know take away the elephants and then you don't get the turnover of the forests and you don't get uh you know fertilization you know through their dung and that supports all sorts of other communities and you know and so on and so forth so it it takes some

the knock-on effects of some of these creatures are negative for for other creatures but you know take away the elephants and then you don't get the turnover of the forests and you don't get uh you know fertilization you know through their dung and that supports all sorts of other communities and you know and so on and so forth so it it takes some

the knock-on effects of some of these creatures are negative for for other creatures but you know take away the elephants and then you don't get the turnover of the forests and you don't get uh you know fertilization you know through their dung and that supports all sorts of other communities and you know and so on and so forth so it it takes some