On Sun, 15 Feb 2004 09:24:10 -0500 [log in to unmask] writes:
> Dear Andrew and Ross;-
>    Common in Florida fossil beds is a sinistral cone. Could that
> extinction have had anything to do with the glacial ages? If so,
> would global warming (or cooling) be an endangerment to other living
> species?
>     Art

Art,
Periods of cooling (ice-ages) have definitely disrupted the environment
enough to cause extinctions as the sea water (locked  up as ice)
retreated, dropping the sea level and exposed large areas of what was
shallow water.  Warming generally expands the coastal areas and creates
new environments that can support new species.  Species adapted to cooler
waters must retreat toward the poles to stay alive.  When southern
Florida is totally flooded again, new species will start to evolve there.
Will civilization survive well enough for our species to care?