Approximately 66 million years ago, the first, and most recent extinction event of ‘the Big Five’ took place- the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) Extinction, also known as the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) Extinction. While this event is known primarily for its involvement in the extinction of dinosaurs, it also had quite the effect on a large majority of other plant and animal species, to the point where no tetrapod (four-legged vertebrae) weighing above 25 kilograms survived. The original trigger is
they are in the process of driving much of it to extinction. If this pattern continues, many animals children have grown up seeing, loving, and dreaming of will be stuffed in museums and observed just as dinosaurs are now. Extinction is the natural path of all species. All species are either being developed, extant, or in the process of becoming extinct. However, there have been 5 times in the earth’s history in which a tremendous amount of extinctions took place in a relatively short period of time
There have been five well known extinctions on this earth. The one most well known is the mass extinction that ended the dinosaurs. Mass extinction is often described as the elimination of a large number of species in a short period of time. Despite what many think, the elimination of species is almost commonplace at this point. The Earth is currently in the middle of a sixth mass extinction, and it’s been caused by the human race. It’s clear that a great extinction is coming from the evidence of
“De-extinction, or resurrection biology, is the process of creating an organism, which is either a member of, or resembles an extinct species, or breeding population of such organisms. Cloning is the most widely proposed method, although selective breeding has also been proposed. Similar techniques have been applied to endangered species.” (Wikipedia) Scientist should not de-extinct species because people could be exploiting these animals solely for selfish purposes. Ultimately causing individuals
it may seem that the issue of species revival through a means of genetic science is a modern idea, similar arguments throughout the past also hold relevance to the modern issue of genetic species revival. To better understand the issue as it becomes more prevalent, it is important to examen different perspectives that span many centuries time, generating new insight on the issue. Examining different perspectives on the perceived human influences on species extinction vs. natural law and lack of adaptability
Extinction is defined as: the state or situation that results when something, such as plant or animal species, have died out completely (Merriam-Webster). The World Wildlife Foundation, otherwise known as the WWF, says that experts estimate that the loss of animals is estimated to be between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate. Experts calculate that between 0.01 and 0.1% of all species become extinct each year. Although this may seem like quite low numbers it reality is
One out of eight birds, one out of four mammals, and one out of three amphibians are currently at risk for extinction (Shah). To prevent these organisms from going extinct, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was put into place in the United States in 1973. This gave the federal government the responsibility to protect endangered and threatened species, as well as critical habitat. The goal of the ESA is to get a population healthy so it can later be delisted. This is done by giving the plants and
struck with an asteroid that wiped out 95% of all species. This devastating event was followed by another natural disaster when, 50 million years later, a volcanic eruption caused massive lava floods. The floods triggered the breakup of Pangea, the original continent. This volcanic eruption created extreme global warming and the extinction of 70% of marine life. These two examples are not the only times Earth has experienced mass extinction. An extinction may be viewed as a natural part of evolution that
De-Extinction? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see a living Woolly Mammoth? Well I am strongly against bringing animals back through a process called de-extinction. Scientists should not bring animals back to life for many reasons. Three reasons why I believe this are: ecosystems have changed since the extinct animal was alive, we won’t care if we kill other species because we can just revive them, and de-extinction has unforeseen consequences (Jurassic Park). These reasons are
In this essay, the topic of mass extinctions will be discussed. There have been five previous mass extinctions, however, it is speculated that we are now in the midst of a sixth mass extinction. Possible causes for this extinction such as human exploitation and climate change will be investigated as well as an example of a species that is in danger of extinction. There are several theories as to what is causing this sixth possible mass extinction however, climate change, the “overkill hypothesis”