# hat can We Learn From Obsolete Species?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hat-can-we-learn-from-obsolete-species/677414>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 29, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hat-can-we-learn-from-obsolete-species/677414 "2013-12-29T17:18:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hat-can-we-learn-from-obsolete-species/677414/21 "2013-12-31T00:16:00Z")

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hat there’s no such thing as an obsolete species.

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**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hat-can-we-learn-from-obsolete-species/677414/22 "2013-12-31T00:48:08Z")

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> [@Diceman](#):
>
> Speaking of which, it’s pretty much undeniable that marsupials have a losing strategy. With the exception of possums, marsupials were all diven out by placental mammals. They only managed to thrive in Australia because there’s no significant placental competition there.

Not really. There are more than 100 species of opossums in Central and South America that do perfectly well in competition with placentals in a variety of insectivore, omnivore, and small carnivore niches. Millions of years ago there were marsupial carnivores in South America that coexisted with placentals for a very long time. Although they ultimately became extinct, so did many of the endemic placental mammals of South America.

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**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hat-can-we-learn-from-obsolete-species/677414/23 "2013-12-31T12:12:12Z")

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Dead weight, obsoletes and primitives are there as a rule, not an exception. Too many idiots believe in perfectionism, even with the subject of race.

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**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hat-can-we-learn-from-obsolete-species/677414/24 "2013-12-31T15:54:48Z")

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But what about the subject of hats?

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**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hat-can-we-learn-from-obsolete-species/677414/25 "2013-12-31T23:27:47Z")

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> [@purplehorseshoe](#):
>
> But what about the subject of hats?

Wear the bill in front. It’s there to keep the sun out of your eyes.

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