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- DictionaryEx·tinc·tion/ikˈstiNG(k)SH(ə)n/
noun
- 1. the fact or process of a species, family, or other group of animals or plants becoming extinct: "preventing the extinction of this unique frog will require the restoration of ponds and surrounding habitats"
- 2. reduction in the intensity of light or other radiation as it passes through a medium or object, due to absorption, reflection, and scattering: "ultraviolet extinction"
Extinction is the termination of a taxon by the death of its last member.A taxon may become functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to reproduce and recover. Because a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively. This difficulty leads to phenomena such as Lazarus taxa, where a ...
Jul 1, 2024 · Extinction, in biology, is the dying out or extermination of a species. It occurs when species are diminished because of environmental forces (natural or human-made) or because of evolutionary changes in their members. Learn more about mass extinctions and modern extinctions.
Oct 19, 2023 · When a species disappears, biologists say that the species has become extinct. By making room for new species, extinction helps drive the evolution of life. Over long periods of time, the number of species becoming extinct can remain fairly constant, meaning that an average number of species go extinct each year, century, or millennium.
Jul 12, 2024 · Scientists aren’t just arguing whether humans are causing a sixth mass extinction event now, but whether many more occurred in the past Riley Black Science Correspondent Asteroid impacts and ...
Jan 13, 2021 · A few months ago a group of scientists warned about the rise of “extinction denial,” an effort much like climate denial to mischaracterize the extinction crisis and suggest that human activity ...
May 29, 2019 · Extinction is a natural phenomenon: After all, more than 90 percent of all organisms that have ever lived on Earth aren’t alive today. But humans have made it worse, accelerating natural ...
Sep 26, 2019 · Late Devonian extinction - 383-359 million years ago. Starting 383 million years ago, this extinction event eliminated about 75 percent of all species on Earth over a span of roughly 20 million years.
Feb 5, 2019 · Scientists are debating whether Earth is now in the midst of a sixth mass extinction.If so, it may be the fastest one ever with a rate of 1,000 to 10,000 times the baseline extinction rate of one ...
Extinction is the complete disappearance of a species from Earth. Species go extinct every year, but historically the average rate of extinction has been very slow with a few exceptions. The fossil record reveals five uniquely large mass extinction events during which significant events such as asteroid strikes and volcanic eruptions caused widespread extinctions over relatively short periods ...
Jun 20, 2018 · Extinction Definition. Extinction is a term applied to a known species, of which there are no known living individuals. Some species which have suffered extinction are known only from their fossilized remains. Others were at one point known to humans, but are gone now.
