How much do we know about the current extinction rate? |
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Authors: | Smith F D May R M Pellew R Johnson T H Walter K R |
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Institution: | Fraser Smith and robert May are at the Dept of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, UK OX1 3PS. |
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Abstract: | Since about J600, 486 animal species have been recorded extinct. This represents about 0.04% of all animal species so far described. In the same period, 600 plant species are known to have disappeared, about 0.25% of the total. These figures are much smaller than those of the Permian/ Triassic and Cretaceous/Tertiary mass extinctions. One might therefore conclude that at present life on earth is at comparatively little risk of extinction. However, there is a growing body of data to show that the converse is true. |
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