▶ Your Answer : The writer and the lecturer talk about the reason for the extinction of Steller's Sea Cow. The writer uses the three theory as the reason for the extinction, while the lecturer points out and raises specific counterclaims. To begin with, the theory that the sea cow was gotten rid of by overhunting of the native Siberian people is refuted by the lecturer, stating that there is no reason for native Siberian people to overhunt them. This is because, he explains, the sea cow is gigantic animal, which weights 10 tons, but native Siberian people had lived in small village. Second, the writer argues that the extinction is because their prey, urchin, so decreased that the sea cow's competition for food increased. The lecturer, however, says that the urchin lived in the limited area already, so the decrease of the urchin can not be the reason for the sea cow's extinction. Related to the last point about European fur traders, the lecturer has different idea in the writer's idea. The writer says that European fur traders came to the island to hunt the sea cow with an advanced technology. However, the lecturer states that the European fur traders came to the island after the extinction and the extinction was a long before. |