Editing Holocene extinction (section)

===Recent extinction===
{{See also|IUCN Red List extinct in the wild species|List of endangered species|List of critically endangered species}}
[[File:Share of species threatened with extinction, OWID.svg|thumb|Share of species threatened with extinction as of 2019.]]
Recent extinctions are more directly attributable to human influences, whereas prehistoric extinctions can be attributed to other factors.<ref name=dirzo/><ref name=ceballos/> The [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] (IUCN) characterizes 'recent' extinction as those that have occurred past the cut-off point of 1500,<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Diana O.|last1=Fisher |first2=Simon P. |last2=Blomberg|year=2011|title=Correlates of rediscovery and the detectability of extinction in mammals|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=278 |issue=1708|pages=1090–1097 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2010.1579|pmc=3049027|pmid=20880890}}</ref> and at least 875 plant and animal species have gone extinct since that time and 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=Extinction continues apace|url=http://www.iucn.org/?4143/Extinction-crisis-continues-apace|publisher=International Union for Conservation of Nature|date=3 November 2009|access-date=18 October 2012|archive-date=29 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729102308/http://iucn.org/?4143%2FExtinction-crisis-continues-apace|url-status=live}}</ref> Some species, such as the [[Père David's deer]]<ref>{{cite iucn |author=Jiang, Z. |author2=Harris, R.B.|date=2016|title=''Elaphurus davidianus''|volume=2016|page=e.T7121A22159785 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T7121A22159785.en|access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> and the [[Hawaiian crow]],<ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn|author=BirdLife International|date=2016|title=''Corvus hawaiiensis''|volume=2016|page=e.T22706052A94048187|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22706052A94048187.en}}</ref> are extinct in the wild, and survive solely in captive populations. Other populations are only [[Local extinction|locally extinct]] (extirpated), still existent elsewhere, but reduced in distribution,<ref name=mckinney2013>{{cite book|chapter-url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=hBntufCOxAsC|page=318}}|first1=Michael L.|last1=McKinney |first2=Robert|last2=Schoch|first3=Logan|last3=Yonavjak|year=2013|title=Environmental Science: Systems and Solutions|edition=5th |chapter=Conserving Biological Resources|publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning |isbn=978-1-4496-6139-7|url=https://archive.org/details/environmentalsci0000mcki_y4n3|url-access=registration}}</ref>{{rp|75–77}} as with the extinction of [[gray whale]]s in the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of marine mammals|page=404|year=2009 |publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-12-373553-9 |author1=Perrin, William F. |author2=Würsig, Bernd G. |author3-link=JGM "Hans" Thewissen|author3=JGM "Hans" Thewissen}}</ref> and of the [[leatherback sea turtle]] in Malaysia.<ref>{{cite book|first1=James R.|last1=Spotila |first2=Pilar S.|last2=Tomillo |year=2015|title=The Leatherback Turtle: Biology and Conservation|publisher=Johns Hopkins University |page=210|isbn=978-1-4214-1708-0|url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=3Vu8CgAAQBAJ|page=210}}}}</ref>

Since the Late Pleistocene, humans (together with other factors) have been rapidly driving the largest vertebrate animals towards extinction, and in the process interrupting a 66-million-year-old feature of ecosystems, the relationship between diet and body mass, which researchers suggest could have unpredictable consequences.<ref>{{cite news |last=Druker |first=Simon |date=April 21, 2022 |title=Study: Humans interrupting 66-million-year-old relationship among animals |work=UPI |url=https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2022/04/21/humans-interupting-66-million-year-relationship-eliminating-large-animals/7651650562988/ |access-date=April 24, 2022 |archive-date=April 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424032434/https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2022/04/21/humans-interupting-66-million-year-relationship-eliminating-large-animals/7651650562988/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cooke |first1=Rob |last2=Gearty |first2=William |display-authors=etal. |date=2022 |title=Anthropogenic disruptions to longstanding patterns of trophic-size structure in vertebrates |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=684–692 |doi=10.1038/s41559-022-01726-x |pmid=35449460 |bibcode=2022NatEE...6..684C |s2cid=248323833 |url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10148482/ |access-date=2022-11-23 |archive-date=2022-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026100706/https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10148482/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A 2019 study published in ''[[Nature Communications]]'' found that rapid biodiversity loss is impacting larger mammals and birds to a much greater extent than smaller ones, with the body mass of such animals expected to shrink by 25% over the next century. Another 2019 study published in ''[[Biology Letters]]'' found that extinction rates are perhaps much higher than previously estimated, in particular for bird species.<ref>{{cite web|last=Mooers|first=Arne|date=January 16, 2020|url=https://theconversation.com/bird-species-are-facing-extinction-hundreds-of-times-faster-than-previously-thought-129134|title=Bird species are facing extinction hundreds of times faster than previously thought|website=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]]|access-date=January 18, 2020|archive-date=March 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304194047/https://theconversation.com/bird-species-are-facing-extinction-hundreds-of-times-faster-than-previously-thought-129134|url-status=live}}</ref>

The 2019 ''[[Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services]]'' lists the primary causes of contemporary extinctions in descending order: (1) changes in land and sea use (primarily agriculture and overfishing respectively); (2) direct exploitation of organisms such as hunting; (3) anthropogenic climate change; (4) pollution and (5) invasive alien species spread by human trade.<ref name="Stokstad"/> This report, along with the 2020 ''[[Living Planet Report]]'' by the WWF, both project that climate change will be the leading cause in the next several decades.<ref name="Stokstad"/><ref name="Lewis2020"/>

A June 2020 study published in ''[[PNAS]]'' posits that the contemporary extinction crisis "may be the most serious environmental threat to the persistence of civilization, because it is irreversible" and that its acceleration "is certain because of the still fast growth in human numbers and consumption rates." The study found that more than 500 [[vertebrate]] species are poised to be lost in the next two decades.<ref name="Ceballos2020">{{cite journal|last1=Ceballos|first1=Gerardo|last2=Ehrlich|first2=Paul R.|last3= Raven|first3=Peter H.|date=June 1, 2020|title=Vertebrates on the brink as indicators of biological annihilation and the sixth mass extinction|journal=[[PNAS]]|volume=117|issue=24|pages=13596–13602|doi=10.1073/pnas.1922686117|doi-access=free|pmid=32482862|pmc=7306750|bibcode=2020PNAS..11713596C}}</ref>