3 ms·
Medium-large animal extinctions are well-documented, primarily because of predation and introduction of invasive species. This is largely complete, as cats and
by kbutler 9y ago
Medium-large animal extinctions are well-documented, primarily because of predation and introduction of invasive species. This is largely complete, as cats and rats and people are pretty much everywhere now.
The vast majority of the 100-1000x baseline extinctions are hypothesized: we estimate that richly biodiverse areas hold N unknown species per area M. We have destroyed M' area, therefore estimate N' species are now extinct.
I have been able to find no actual evidence of such extinctions.
The mass extinctions in the Paleo record are driven by more significant disruptions of the base ecology - bees are probably the most vulnerable foundation species talked about now.