the.com/extinction
nature's permanent unsubscribe, hitting 99.9% of every species that ever drew breath
means The complete dying-out of a species or other group, so that no living members remain anywhere.
from From Latin 'extinguere,' to quench or put out — built from 'ex-' (out) and 'stinguere' (to extinguish). The same flame-snuffing image survives in 'extinguish'; a species, like a candle, simply goes dark.
- hit rate
- over 99% of all species are already gone
- big five
- five mass extinctions, one ongoing right now
- worst day
- Permian event killed ninety-six percent of marine life
- de-extinction
- scientists are reverse-engineering mammoths from elephants
- slow killer
- most species vanish quietly, never witnessed by humans
for instance
passenger pigeon — north american bird hunted to zero by 1914, last one died in cincinnati zoo
thylacine — tasmanian tiger, last specimen died in captivity in 1936
baiji dolphin — chinese river dolphin officially extinct by 2006, first dolphin species killed by humans
dodo — mauritian flightless bird eliminated by 1681 within 100 years of human arrival