Extinction event

The Six Great Extinctions Extinction is just another word used for the dying off of one species or of many species. Since the beginning of time there have been five mass extinction and then some smaller extinctions. Either big or small, they play a huge role in the evolution of the species around us. Whether they were a common ancestor, or a close relative to an organism, they still helped the organisms we know today evolve and adapt to the environment that we now share. During the extinction events some species are more probable to survive than others are (Futuyma 173). Amphibians have survived through many of the great extinctions (Kolbert, 2009). They once were an all marine organism but have evolved throughout time and now can live on…

The ever first global mass extinction event occurred 445.2 million to 443.8 million years ago and wiped out an estimated eighty-five percent of all Ordovician species. Brachiopods, which are shell like animals had the most effects of this extinction. Laurentian brachiopods were hit horribly rough as well, particularly the ones that lived in the shallow seas that were near a continent. The mass extinction occurred in several stages. First stage affected graptolites, brachiopods, and trilobites…

they became extinct. Ultimately, only a major catastrophe could completely dismantle an entire species, let alone a body of dinosaurs. Consequently, the debacle on the causes of dinosaur extinction have baffled the minds of paleontologists for centuries. Geologist and zoologist Stephen Jay Gould published “Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs,” to compare scientific and speculative causes of dinosaur extinction. This passage is highly informative and enjoyable. Gould…

Some examples of macroevolution include the impact that mass extinctions have on the diversity of life, the appearance of terrestrial vertebrates through speciation, and the basis of key adaptations. An example of this is flight in birds. Another example of macroevolution is a species named Primula kewensis, which came into existence because of the crossbreeding of two hybrid primrose species, Primula verticillata and Primula floribunda. Sedimentary rocks We do not know the actual, or…

The Massest of Mass Extinctions With all the post-apocalyptic themed movies coming out of Hollywood, most people are probably familiar with the concept of a mass extinction. In those kind of movies the cause is often a manmade problem, such as nuclear war. However, in the earth’s distant past, we were not around to destroy ourselves. So what happened? 250 million years ago the Permian period came to an end in a mass extinction causing 95% of species living in the ocean to die (Cort, 2006). To…

a sudden explosion of life on earth. The climate of the Cambrian Period was relatively cold at first, but then started to gradually warm up. Halfway through this period life started to go extinct. The second period in the Paleozoic Era was the Ordovician Period. During this time, life underwater went through some tremendous changes. Also, a variety of marine life flourished also plants were beginning to appear on land also most of the world's land masses came together to form the super…

The Road to Extinction Dinosaurs have captured the whole world’s attention and curiosity. How did they come to be extinct? What factors led to this downfall? Are they completely extinct? All these questions additional to several others have aroused among many scientists. Although the extinction of the dinosaurs was the smallest one it seems to be the most discussed (Meyer, 2016, personal communication). So what was the cause of the end of these grand creatures? In the article “The ‘Great…

explain the extinction which took place 65 million years ago. One of the main reasons was the possibility of a sudden change in the climate or atmosphere. For instance, a nearby supernova explosion could heat up the upper atmosphere, disturbing the ozone layer. Disturbing the ozone layer could produce large ice clouds which would cool the environment. If the dinosaurs were cold blooded they would not have been able to survive the horrible winters. Unlike mammals today, dinosaurs were not able…

In a thought-provoking literary composition by Stephen Jay Gould, the hypotheses of dinosaur extinction are intermingled with the all-consuming thoughts and dilemmas that plague much of the modern society, including: sex, drugs, and violence; as well as one great unknown- how dinosaurs became extinct. Gould adds the public’s lust for outré, controversial statements with real, scientific inferences. Plaguing the world with questionability, the explanation for the dinosaurs’ extinction is still…

Every public school in America, from elementary school to universities, teaches that all the dinosaurs died out about sixty-five million years ago. This position, supposedly proven by the scientific method: radiometric dating, the geologic table, and evidence of a cataclysmic event at that time seem to back this theory up. Certainly, any student who does not toe the party line in this matter will be ridiculed by the professors as one who has no comprehension of real science. Despite data to the…