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Certainly true, can’t argue with any of that. And evolution does inherently run into plenty of dead ends. My only counterpoint would be that if human encroachment never deprived them of habitat, and we gave them a geologic timescale, normal genetic mutation and natural selection could still eventually result in a more efficient digestive tract for their diet, allowing them to thrive.

Ultimately, that’s more of a little thought experiment than anything else, as those conditions don’t exist; and even if they did, even my grandchildren wouldn’t live to see the results. I just feel bad for the panda, as I suspect human impact will prevent them from surviving to ever get the opportunity, even if the odds are against them.

I don’t know that I agree. As you say, they need large solitary ranges, and they can’t get that because of humans. To me, that’s the bulk of the equation. Sure, their requirements are significant, and resources are finite, but arguably that’s true of every species.

The only way to know for sure is by trying

Agreed on the private equity firms shit, I’ve worked at 2 such hospitals and they’ve been hell. They’re most assuredly not passing those increased prices along to the employees in form of wage increases, I’ll tell you that.

Also, that tooth extraction is a choice to use as a comparison. I’ve never had to be anesthetized for my extractions, but good luck doing that on an awake dog, so of course costs are going to be high. Anesthestizing you for your dentistry would cost way way more than it does now, and certainly more tgan your dog’s.

There’s no way it costs more than your doctor. You are either glossing over what your insurance is paying for you, or your doctor is seeing you in a back alley somewhere.

Also, you’re not paying for the vet’s time spent looking at bloodwork, which I actually do believe is 5 minutes. You’re paying for the 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of medical school, (and if they’re truly a specialist) several years of residency and being boarded, plus many hours of specialized continuing education per year.

Oh man, sometimes yes but sometimes not so much. Know how humans have 23 chromosomes? And we’re diploid, which means they come in pairs of 2?

Some plants have a few more pairs than that - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyploidy And some plants have way WAY more than 23 chromosomes - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_organisms_by_chromosome_count There’s a plant at the bottom of that list that has 1260 chromosomes.

I only took 1 botany class back in college, so I don’t know or remember enough to talk about this in more depth. I really only know enough to be shocked by how crazy a plant’s genuine can be.