Biogeography is both a relatively new branch of science and a very old one. It looks at why plants and animals ended up where they did in the world.
And it totally fails to explain New Zealand’s conspicuous lack of large land mammals – the only place in the world where birds evolved to occupy every space in the ecosystem.
What was it about New Zealand that allowed birds, lizards and fish to outperform the mammals that were taking over the world everywhere else? Could it be because the land that’s our land had less of the essential minerals that mammals needed to thrive ? That’s a premise of Just Cause and Effect – Selenium Deficiency in New Zealand.
The one book every New Zealander should read this year – it may just change your life.
