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When I think of animals that went extinct in human history, I imagine animals that were already marginal, weren't well-suited to the environment, and died off s
by computator 12y ago
When I think of animals that went extinct in human history, I imagine animals that were already marginal, weren't well-suited to the environment, and died off slowly over a very long period.
The passenger pigeon example really caught me off guard: "The species went from being one of the most abundant birds in the world during the 19th century to extinction early in the 20th century"[1]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon
- pixl97 12y ago>Large flocks and communal breeding made the species highly vulnerable to hunting.[28] As the flocks dwindled in size, populations decreased below the threshold necessary to propagate the species.[81][82] Naturalist Paul R. Ehrlich wrote that its extinction "illustrates a very important principle of conservation biology: it is not always necessary to kill the last pair of a species to force it to extinction." The most important statement on its extinction.