Extinction

Introduction

Extinction plays the most crucial role in the evolution of life. When the last member of the species died the whole species became extinct. The cause of Extinction can be anything, from climate change to losing the food source. The extinction, that happened almost 250 million years ago, is believed as the biggest extinction in the history of the earth. In the process of making today’s world, five major extinctions played a key role.

What is the meaning of Extinction?

In the field of biology, the term Extinction can be defined as the process of elimination of one single species from the earth. The term represents a natural phenomenon, and in the year 1796 it was introduced by Georges Cuvier. Extinction occurs mainly for two reasons; either it happens due to natural calamities or for changes in their related species. Sometimes, a huge number of different species go extinct in a major calamity, this is called an Extinction Event. In this process, all genetic qualities of one species get lost. Many species that have once lived on this earth get extinct for any reason. The number of extinct animals is huge; it is in the range of 10 to 14 million.

Extinction has two primary types; one is Background Extinction and Mass Extinction. Background extinction occurs naturally and mass extinction occurs due to catastrophic event.

Major Elements of Extinction

There are some major elements of Extinction, that had never changed despite many unpredictability.

• Extinction never follows the rules and the factors of natural selection it is a probability.

• Extinctions simply plays role in clearing the way for the restructure of the biosphere.

• Sometimes, many successful groups of species get extinct and it allow many other species that are comparably minor groups, to expand.

• The process of extinction is the most unpredictable one; no one can say which species is going to get extinct. In simple words, it is tough to point out the next victim of extinction.

What is Mass Extinction?

When a large number of species gets eliminated, it is called Mass Extinction. It is one major type of Extinction process. However, it is observed that mass extinctions need one proper catastrophic event on the earth. The history of the evolution of life on earth and the fossils are proof that shows that behind every mass extinction, there was something very unusual, that happened at least million years ago.

It is a process, where old species get eliminated when new species start evolving. Many species get extinct in just one geological blink. It is considered the deadliest event.

There were 5 mass extinction that have already happened on earth, it includes the Ordovician-Silurian Extinction, the Devonian Extinction, the Permian-Triassic Extinction, the Triassic-Jurassic extinction and the cretaceous-tertiary extinction.

Causes of Extinction

There are many reasons behind extinction, however, it can be divided into two types, one natural causes and another one man-made causes.

Natural Causes

• Climate change is the most important part for the extinction. It leads to the extreme level of change in the weather and the unavailability of food source.

• The rising of the sea level is another major cause of the extinction. It changes the water current and affects the normal life span of many marine creatures.

• It is observed that behind many mass extinctions the reason was astroids or the meteors. Outbreak of pandemic or epidemics is the reasons behind the extinction process.

For example, in 1918’s Spanish flu at least 500million people died, which means that one-third of the whole population just get eliminated by one pandemic.

• Genetic diversity plays a role in mass extinction, when it gets reduced; it results in extinction.

• The most important reason for Extinction is the lack of adaptive skills. In that process, the weak species get replaced by the strongest one. In nature, those species that cannot adopt the change, eventually get eliminated, that is the most natural phenomenon.

Man-Made Causes

Pollution is the most crucial man made because for which extinction happens. That is the reason; humans are considered a threat to all living creatures. For example, Acid rain kills many terrestrial organisms. The rapid rate of deforestation forces many species to migrate to other places, which ultimately results in extinction. Over-harvesting is also a manmade reason for the extinction.

Examples of Extinction

Animals that get extinct are, Sabre-toothed cats, woolly mammoth, Large sloth lemur, Labrador duck, Steller's sea cow, Dodo, and Tasmanian tiger, and many more.

Conclusion

In numbers, maybe 99% of the species that once lived on this earth get extinct with time. It is the most natural process of elimination of species from the surface of the earth. It refers to those animals, which are no longer living on this earth; the list of extinct animals includes at least 40% of the mammals, and 25% of the amphibians. There is a different kind of belief among scientists, that suggests that any process of extinction' takes at least one million years to complete.

FAQs

Qns 1. What is the sixth mass extinction?

Ans. The sixth mass extinction is a process of extinction that is driven by humans, unsustainable use of land, water, and energy and most importantly the change in climate.

Qns 2. What are the Types of Extinction?

Ans. There are two major types of extinction, they are background extinction and the mass extinction.

Qns 3. What are the leading causes of Extinction?

Ans. Extinction can happen because of two main reasons, one is natural, which includes the change in climate, asteroids, etc and the other one is man-made which includes pollution, overharvesting, etc.