Search results
5 days ago · Extinction is the dying out or extermination of a species due to environmental or evolutionary factors. Learn about the different types of extinction, the causes of human-induced extinction, and the current mass extinction event from Britannica's experts.
3 days ago · 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.
2 days ago · The prospect of extinction, the complete loss of a species or other group of organisms, has long provoked strong responses. Until the turn of the 18th century, deeply held and widely shared beliefs about the order of nature led to a firm rejection of the possibility that species could entirely vanish.
3 days ago · Biodiversity loss, the reduction in an area’s biodiversity (the number of genes, species, individual organisms, or ecosystems) expressed by species loss, population declines and reductions in the genetic diversity within a species, and the collapse of biological communities.
3 days ago · IUCN lists leopards as “Vulnerable,” a category given to species facing a high extinction risk due rapid population declines or other factors. But some subspecies are in critical condition.
3 days ago · The loss of genes and individuals threatens the long-term survival of a species, as mates become scarce and risks from inbreeding rise when closely related survivors mate. The wholesale loss of populations also increases the risk that a particular species will become extinct. Biodiversity is critical for maintaining ecosystem health.
5 days ago · At least 161 species of mammals were driven to extinction during this period. This number is based on the remains found so far. The largest of them were hit the hardest -- land-dwelling herbivores ...
