Species And Why It Matters If They Become Extinction

Species And Why it Matters If They Become Extinct

According to the famous definition by Ernst Mayr, a species is said to be “a group of interbreeding natural populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups (Ridley)”. This quotation defines the biological species concept that is a largely accepted definition of a species. The human population is increasingly becoming a reckless civilization with no regard for the actions we follow therefore the concept of a species becoming extinct isn’t an alien notion. The question that has heightened much debate in recent years is does it matter if a species becomes extinct? This raises the issue of what implications can follow and how can a species be saved by fairly recent scientific breakthroughs in genetics and cloning? The topic of genetics creates much debate with the ethics that surround it making it a burdensome line to cross from whether a species should stay extinct or should be reintroduced artificially. These are all questions that can be addressed from different points by examining a variety of ideas and sources to clearly picture what a species is by definition and opinion and what implications extinction carries which is the running theme for this essay. What a species …show more content…
Extinction can be due to reasons including habitat loss, climate change, evolutionary changes and the use of a species for humans. A species that is now extinct can have a descendant that shows physical traits but varies in some way, commonly size with ancient ancestors. The mega piranha paranensis is one such specimen; this is an oversized extinct ancestor of the modern piranha species (LiveScience.com). A more recent example of extinction includes the Baiji River Dolphin that faced extinction due to habitat loss in China. Rivers became more industrialized and used more for transportation of goods wiping out the Baiji Dolphin’s natural environment