Biological extinction is the irreversible process by which a species, subspecies, or other taxonomic unit ceases to exist, characterized by the disappearance of all viable individuals and the loss of reproductive capacity across its entire geographic range. It results from deterministic factors such as habitat loss, overexploitation, invasive species, and climate change, often interacting with stochastic processes including demographic, environmental, and genetic drift. Extinction operates as a key macroevolutionary filter shaping biodiversity patterns, turnover rates, and phylogenetic structure, and is quantified through extinction rates, selectivity analyses, and models of population viability and metapopulation dynamics across ecological and evolutionary timescales.
When an animal's environment changes faster than the animal can adapt, its chances of survival can flatline. The same is true for populations and even entire species. Now, scientists at MIT and the University of Leicester ...
Evolution
Jun 24, 2026
0
9
New research from the University of St. Andrews has shown that higher extinction risk is associated with a higher frequency of decreasing local prevalence of species, in an analysis of one of the most comprehensive long-term ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 23, 2026
0
8
It's surprising how easy it is to see a koala every day in Australia's major cities. The cute, gray marsupial can be found on T-shirts, hanging off people's bags and pencils, and decorating any decent souvenir shop. But seeing ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 9, 2026
0
7
One of the most devastating extinctions in Earth's history is best known for what didn't die—dinosaurs. But the end-Triassic extinction 201 million years ago wiped out roughly 60% of Earth's species, and scientists are still ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 1, 2026
1
59
On the strictly protected island of Golem Grad in North Macedonia, the tortoises are destroying their own population. During prolonged courtship, aggressive males are exhausting the females and frequently pushing them off ...
Plants & Animals
May 10, 2026
0
82
In 2024, the Western Australian Museum received a donation. It was a koala skull collected from Moondyne Cave in Margaret River by Lindsay Hatcher, an avid caver. There was something a bit odd about this skull, and we were ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 6, 2026
0
12
Some of the most beautiful creatures to grace the ancient seas, the ammonites, disappeared in the end-Cretaceous mass extinction that finished off the dinosaurs 65.5 million years ago. "It's a tragic story, because this incredibly ...
Evolution
May 5, 2026
0
62
Tropical ecosystems rely on the infrastructure provided by termites. These insects supply plants with vital nutrients by breaking down organic waste, bringing water to the roots by aerating the soil through tunneling, and ...
Ecology
Apr 30, 2026
0
59
A remarkable new discovery is shedding light on one of the greatest survival stories in Earth's history, and answering a decades-old scientific mystery. Lystrosaurus, a hardy, plant-eating mammal ancestor, rose to prominence ...
Evolution
Apr 9, 2026
1
399
The mass extinction at the boundary between the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods was catastrophic, wiping out much of life on Earth. Vertebrate groups that dominated at the time, such as dinosaurs and many large marine reptiles, ...
Evolution
Mar 25, 2026
0
120
