Extinction

thumb|The thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) is an example of a recently extinct [[species.]] thumb|Palaeotherium is an example of an extinct [[genus that is only recorded from fossil records before the existence of hominids.]]

IUCN conservation category

organismic taxon that closely resembles an extinct entity, with few related living taxa

thumb|320px|The African bush elephant (foreground), Earth's largest extant land animal, and the [[Masai ostrich (background), one of Earth's largest extant birds]] In zoology, megafauna (from Greek 'large' and Neo-Latin 'animal life') are large animals. The precise definition of the term varies widely, though a common threshold is approximately , this lower end being centered on humans, with other thresholds being more relative to the sizes of animals in an ecosystem, the spectrum of lower-end thresholds ranging from to , the latter largely restricted to megaherbivores. Large body size is gene

massive extinction event during the current Holocene geological epoch

extinction of species worldwide, and also the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat

thumb|right|The Pyrenean ibex, also known as the bouquetin (French) and bucardo (Spanish), is the only animal to have survived de-extinction past birth through cloning. De-extinction (also known as resurrection biology, or species revivalism) is the process of human intervention to generate an organism that either resembles or is an extinct organism. There are several ways to carry out the process of de-extinction. Cloning is the most widely proposed method, although genome editing and selective breeding have also been considered. Similar techniques have been applied to certain endangered spec

Sampling bias in the fossil record raising difficulties to characterize extinctions

the condition of a taxon ceasing to exist in a region which it previously inhabited

backbreeding

future extinction of species due to events in the past

assessment of modern science's ability to detect evidence of a prior advanced civilization

thumb|right|200px|The last known thylacine (Tasmanian tiger), photographed at [[Hobart Zoo in 1933]] An endling is the last known individual of a species or subspecies. Once the endling dies, the species becomes extinct. The word was coined in correspondence in the scientific journal Nature.

end of viability for a population

Coextinction and cothreatened refer to the phenomenon of the loss or decline of a host species resulting in the loss or endangerment of another species that depends on it, potentially leading to cascading effects across trophic levels. The term was originated by the authors Stork and Lyal (1993) and was originally used to explain the extinction of parasitic insects following the loss of their specific hosts. The term is now used to describe the loss of any interacting species, including competition with their counterpart, and specialist herbivores with their food source. Coextinction is especi

popular science book by Elizabeth Kolbert

risk of species becoming extinct due to the effects of global warming

attempt to breed a zebra resembling an extinct quagga

type of fossil

taxon that seems to resemble another taxon that has disappeared from the fossil record

German cattle-breeding project

class of models about – and observed phenomena of – the dynamics of extinctions of species

evolutionary phenomenon in which the process of adaptation causes the population to become extinct

observation of apparent decrease in insect roadkill

Is a nonprofit wildlife conservation organization bringing biotechnology to conservation

A numerical value of a variable characterizing a population or metapopulation, below which it is believed that population or metapopulation cannot survive

reduction of a species' abundance to the point that, though still present, it stops interacting with other species

standard rate of extinction in earth's geological and biological history before humans became a primary contributor to extinctions