Animal Extinction

A Term Paper Presented to the Faculty of Department of English and Foreign Languages College of Liberal Arts and Education

In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements in English Communication 2

Tolentino, Manuel III M. March 2012

Introduction Life appeared on planet Earth about 3.8 billion years ago when our planet environment was stable enough to support it. Since then life flourished and have evolved into different kinds of species like plants, animals, bacterias and many forms of life. Animal extinction which is the focus of my research, have contributed many factors that have significantly influenced our environment and the way animals and humans live on Earth. One contributing factor why animals become instinct is the environment. If for instance, there have been a major climate change and animals that have been used to their environment for many years suddenly needs to adopt to the new climate, some animals would survive some animals dont. This is where Darwins theory comes in survival of the fittest. Animals who could adapt to the new environment live on and evolved, and animals who dont become instinct and forgotten but proof of their existence still lives on fossil records that could even date back to 3.8 billion years. On the present day, humans are the dominant species on the Earth, capable of rational thinking that gets them apart with other animals. Humans also contribute on how animals survive on Earth because humans have the capability of making other species of animals to become extinct. But what matters the most in the end is that all animals should live in harmony with each other. There should have a balance in nature, a balance of specie with other specie enable us to survive longer. This research aims to discuss about the information about the animal extinction. It will explain how animals get involved in the extinction or endangerment. And what animals are involved in the extinction and the percentage of the extinct animals. Moreover, what are the cause and effect of the animal extinction in humans and in our environment?

Body In this research, information about animal extinction will be discussed. There will be a lot of discussion and explanation about the animal extinction. According to Wikipedia.com (2012), Extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organism normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of last individual of the species. Through evolution, new species arise through the process of speciation, where new varieties of organisms arise and thrive when they are able to find and exploit and ecological niche. And species become extinct when they are no longer able to survive in changing condition or against superior completion. According to Solomon, Berg & Martin (2008). Extinction, the death of a species when the last individual members of a specie dies. It occurs when a species can no longer reproduce at replacement levels. Although extinction is a natural phenomenon predicted by Darwin in his theory of evolution, species extinct if it is not able to adapt to changes in its environment or compete effectively with other organisms. Periodic episodes animal extinction has long been among the most problematic aspects of the history of life. Recent summaries by Harland and others have provided modern documentation of the puzzling effect of such crisis intervals on the principal taxa of fossil animal. A certain group of both terrestrial aquatic habit show severe carnivores, herbivores, suspension feeders and deposit feeders are greatly affected while other groups with similar diets persist with little change. Even closely related subgroup within one phylum or class commonly shows radically different histories. In short there is no obvious taxonomies or adoptive in the effect of extinction intervals on different animal taxa. In recent years, the threat to the welfare of animals has increased dramatically, mostly as a result of habitat destruction. Tropical rain forests, the most threatened areas on the Earth have been reduced to 44% of their original extent. In certain areas such as Ecuador, forest coverage has been reduced by 95%. This decreased in habitat has resulted in tens of thousands of extinctions. Other causes of extinction include climate change, pollution and invasions from foreign species. Habitats other than rain forest, grasslands, marshes, deserts, and coral reefs are also threatened.

According to Wikipedia.com (2012). There are many things that can cause a species to become extinct or threatened. Some problems such as pollution can affect many animals at the same time. Perhaps the loss of a wooded area for new construction, a problem might threaten one particular in that one area. There are many causes of animal extinction like habitat loss, the greatest cause of species being extinct because of the construction of homes, buildings, roads and threatens many ecosystem large and small. Pollution, it can take many forms, water, air and ground pollution are all related. Toxic substances dumped in a wooded area will destroy the soil and the species that live in it. Climate change or global warming, it has been recently suggested that the warmer global temperature may affecting animals in different ways. In fact, global warming is predicted to put at least 20-30% of plant and animals species at risk of extinction, and up to 40-70% in worse case scenarios. And introduced or invasive species, invasive species introduced to biodiversity rich areas damage habitats of native species and destroy their safe existence. Concern over the loss of biodiversity is not simply a matter of an ethical interest in nonhuman life. Humans have evolved and among the variety of species that exist on our planet and the loss of these specie often results in negative consequences for us. The biological resources that are harvested directly from natural areas include wood for fuel and lumber, shellfish for protein, algae for gelatins. The loss of any of these species affects human populations economically. One estimate place the value of wild species in the united states at $87 billion a year about 4% of the gross domestic product. Wild species also provide resources for humans in the forum of unique biological chemicals. In the study of Tropical-Rainforest-Animals.com. Our planet is continually changing, causing habitats to be altered and modified. Natural changes tend to occur at a gradual pace, usually causing only a slight impact on individual species. However, when changes occur at o fast pace there is little or no time for individual species to react and adjust to new circumstances. This can create disastrous results and for this reason rapid habitat loss is the primary cause of species extinction. The strongest forces in rapid habitat loss are human beings. Nearly every region of the Earth has been affected by human activity particularly during this past century.

According to Freeman (2011). There are so many animals that are endangered to deplete. Some of these animals are: Thylacine or commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger, the Quagga a southern subspecies of the plain zebra. Caribbean monk seal, only known seal which was native to the Caribbean Sea and in Gulf of Mexico. The Pyrenean Ibex, native to the Pyrenees a mountain range in Andorra, France and Spain. Jauan Tiger, subspecies of tigers which were limited to the Indonesian Island of java. And Baiji river Dolphin, the dolphin was declared functionally extinct after an expedition late in 2006, failed to record a single individual after an extensive search of the animal entire range. Out of approximately 1.8 million known species more than 1.6 million are acknowledge in the database maintained by the International Union for the Conservation (IUCN), and 44,838 species have been assessed for a conservation status report. All the mammal and bird species in the database have been assessed and almost 99% amphibians over 20% of mammals species are endangered by habitat loss and poaching.

Conclusion From simple forms of organisms to complicated ones like humans, life as we know it have flourished and formed into thousands or even millions of species. Many species have gone extinct but still nature has a way of healing itself. Through time, damages, holes and gaps that have bombarded nature due to many factors, nature somehow has a way of fixing and bringing back its balance.

In some way, extinction brings a positive outcome because extinction at one species may enable one species to become the next dominant specie. One example is the extinction of dinosaurs. It was during the Jurassic Period where there had been a major extinction where all dinosaurs had been wiped out on planet. If it wasnt for the extinction of dinosaurs, we may not be the dominant specie on these days.

On the other hand, extinction also brings a negative effect on Earth because of the imbalance it does on Mother Nature. It will affect not just our environment but it will also affect us. If that will happen, our nature wont be normal because there will be gaps between are specie to another specie. We as humans should take care of other species and our environment for it to get its right and normal balance.

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