Hi, I found this post to be very interesting. I like that you have spoke of extinction hand in hand with evolution. I agree that extinction is just as important to diversity of organisms as evolution. I knew that South Africa was full of diversity, but never really though about Australia as having an even richer diversity than that of Africa! It's mindblowing to read that the diversity is linked to the poor soils and dry summers of Africa and Australia. What's even more astonishing is that South Eastern Australia had at least as many tough-leaved plants 1.5 million years ago ago as Western Australia and South Africa do today! It's sad to read that the species in these hotspots may be be much more sensitive to the future climate change - since they have been protected from past climate changes. I really hate how extinction is taking so many great species of plants and animals. I wish we could slow down this process.