Extinction Bad Genes Or Bad LuckThis is the first major book to present a comprehensive overview of the current state of extinction studies. At the end of the journey, Raup has put forward the best science of the day to answer the question posed by the title: Bad genes or bad luck? In the geological record, there are five major mass extinctions—the "Big Five." The most famous happened at the end of the Cretaceous Period, when the dinosaurs and two-thirds of all marine animal species were wiped out, opening the door for the age of mammals and the rise of Homo Sapiens. Using this example as a springboard, David M. Raup leaps into an egaging discussion of the theories, assumptions, and difficulties associated with the science of species extinction. Woven is along the way are stories of the trilobite eye, tropical reefs, flying reptiles, and the fate of the heath hen on Martha's Vineyard, a very modern extinction. |
Contents
Is Extinction Important? Bad Genes or | 6 |
COULD ALL EXTINCTIONS BE CAUSED | 10 |
Word | 13 |
GAMBLERS RUIN AND OTHER | 57 |
MASS EXTINCTIONS | 64 |
SELECTIVITY OF EXTINCTION | 88 |
THE SEARCH FOR CAUSES | 107 |
7 | 118 |
Common terms and phrases
Alvarez animals asteroid average bad genes bad luck Big Five mass biodiversity biological Cambrian causes of extinction chance chapter comet common continental continental shelves Cretaceous Devonian dinosaurs estimate evolution evolutionary evolved example extinction events extinction rate Field of Bullets Figure Five mass extinctions fossil record Gambler's Ruin genera genus geologic geologists glaciation global go extinct groups habitable area habitat heath hen human impact craters impact-extinction intervals iridium island Jablonski Jurassic K-T boundary K-T extinction kill curve kilometers land mammals marine mass extinction meteorite meteorite impact million year event minimum viable population natural selection Nemesis North America number of species occurred oceans organisms paleontologists past percent Permian Phanerozoic Pleistocene probably rain forests random Raup reefs research article rocks scenario sea level small populations SOURCES AND FURTHER speciation species extinction species kill species living species-area effect statistical survive taxonomic temperature Tertiary theory tinction tion trilobites tropical volcanic