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Extinctions are a normal part of the evolutionary process, and the background extinction rate is a measurement of "how often" they naturally occur. Normal extinction rates are often used as a comparison to present day extinction rates, to illustrate the higher frequency of extinction today than in all periods of non-extinction events before it. [1]
Permian–Triassic extinction event 252 Ma Large igneous province (LIP) eruptions [ 23 ] from the Siberian Traps , [ 24 ] an impact event (the Wilkes Land Crater ), [ 25 ] an Anoxic event , [ 26 ] an Ice age , [ 27 ] or other possible causes
In a landmark paper published in 1982, Jack Sepkoski and David M. Raup identified five particular geological intervals with excessive diversity loss. [2] They were originally identified as outliers on a general trend of decreasing extinction rates during the Phanerozoic, [3] but as more stringent statistical tests have been applied to the accumulating data, it has been established that in the ...
This is much faster than the expected “background” extinction rate, or the rate at which species would naturally die off without outside influence — in the absence of human beings, these 73 ...
More significantly, the current rate of global species extinctions is estimated as 100 to 1,000 times "background" rates (the average extinction rates in the evolutionary time scale of planet Earth), [71] [72] faster than at any other time in human history, [73] [74] while future rates are likely 10,000 times higher. [72]
At current rates, about 30% of species are at risk of extinction in the next hundred years. [19] The Holocene extinction event is the result of habitat destruction, the widespread distribution of invasive species, poaching, and climate change. [20] [21] [22] In the present day, human activity has had a significant impact on the surface of the ...
The following list is incomplete by necessity, since the majority of extinctions are thought to be undocumented, and for many others there isn't a definitive, widely accepted last, or most recent record. According to the species-area theory, the present rate of extinction may be up to 140,000 species per year. [1]
Scientists say the mass extinction 250 million years ago offers a timely warning to humanity of what can happen when ecosystems change too fast for life to keep up.