Editing Life (section)

=== Extinction ===

{{Main|Extinction}}

Extinction is the process by which a [[species]] dies out.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Extinction&nbsp;– definition |url=http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861609974/extinction.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090926011523/http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861609974/extinction.html |archive-date=26 September 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The moment of extinction is the death of the last individual of that species. Because a species' potential [[range (biology)|range]] may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively after a period of apparent absence. Species become extinct when they are no longer able to survive in changing [[habitat]] or against superior competition. Over 99% of all the species that have ever lived are now extinct.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Triassic/extinction.htm |title=What is an extinction? |website=Late Triassic |publisher=Bristol University |access-date=27 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901011807/http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/palaeofiles/triassic/extinction.htm |archive-date=1 September 2012 }}</ref><ref name="Book-Biology">{{cite book |editor1=Kunin, W.E. |editor2=Gaston, Kevin |author=McKinney, Michael L. |chapter=How do rare species avoid extinction? A paleontological view |title=The Biology of Rarity: Causes and consequences of rare—common differences |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4LHnCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA110 |date=1996 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-412-63380-5 |access-date=26 May 2015 |archive-date=3 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203051637/https://books.google.com/books?id=4LHnCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA110 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="StearnsStearns2000">{{cite book |last1=Stearns |first1=Beverly Peterson |last2=Stearns |first2=Stephen C. |title=Watching, from the Edge of Extinction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0BHeC-tXIB4C&q=99+percent |year=2000 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-08469-6 |page=x |access-date=30 May 2017 |archive-date=5 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231105190204/https://books.google.com/books?id=0BHeC-tXIB4C&q=99+percent#v=snippet&q=99%20percent&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="NYT-20141108-MJN">{{cite news |last=Novacek |first=Michael J. |title=Prehistory's Brilliant Future |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/opinion/sunday/prehistorys-brilliant-future.html |date=8 November 2014 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=25 December 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141229225657/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/opinion/sunday/prehistorys-brilliant-future.html |archive-date=29 December 2014 }}</ref> [[Mass extinction]]s may have accelerated evolution by providing opportunities for new groups of organisms to diversify.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Van Valkenburgh |first=B. |author-link=Blaire Van Valkenburgh |year=1999 |title=Major patterns in the history of carnivorous mammals |journal=Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences |volume=27 |pages=463–493 |doi=10.1146/annurev.earth.27.1.463 |bibcode=1999AREPS..27..463V |url=https://zenodo.org/record/890156 |access-date=29 June 2019 |archive-date=29 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229201201/https://zenodo.org/record/890156 |url-status=live }}</ref>