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In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms (taxon), normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point. Because a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively. This difficulty leads to phenomena such as Lazarus taxa, where a species presumed extinct abruptly "reappears" (typically in the fossil record) after a period of apparent absence. The age of the Earth is about 4.54 billion years old.〔 〕 The earliest undisputed evidence of life on Earth dates at least from 3.5 billion years ago,〔Schopf, JW, Kudryavtsev, AB, Czaja, AD, and Tripathi, AB. (2007). ''Evidence of Archean life: Stromatolites and microfossils.'' Precambrian Research 158:141–155.〕〔Schopf, JW (2006). ''Fossil evidence of Archaean life.'' Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 29;361(1470) 869-85.〕 during the Eoarchean Era after a geological crust started to solidify following the earlier molten Hadean Eon. There are microbial mat fossils found in 3.48 billion-year-old sandstone discovered in Western Australia. Earlier physical evidences of life include graphite, a biogenic substance, in 3.7 billion-year-old metasedimentary rocks discovered in southwestern Greenland, as well as, "remains of biotic life" found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia.〔 Early edition, published online before print.〕 According to one of the researchers, "If life arose relatively quickly on Earth ... then it could be common in the universe."〔 More than 99 percent of all species, amounting to over five billion species, that ever lived on Earth are estimated to be extinct.〔 Estimates on the number of Earth's current species range from 10 million to 14 million, of which about 1.2 million have been documented and over 86 percent have not yet been described. Through evolution, species arise through the process of speciation—where new varieties of organisms arise and thrive when they are able to find and exploit an ecological niche—and species become extinct when they are no longer able to survive in changing conditions or against superior competition. The relationship between animals and their ecological niches has been firmly established. A typical species becomes extinct within 10 million years of its first appearance,〔Newman, Mark. (''A model of mass extinction'' ). 1997. Journal of Theoretical Biology 189: 235–252〕 although some species, called living fossils, survive with virtually no morphological change for hundreds of millions of years. Mass extinctions are relatively rare events; however, isolated extinctions are quite common. Only recently have extinctions been recorded and scientists have become alarmed at the current high rate of extinctions.〔(Species disappearing at an alarming rate, report says ). MSNBC. Retrieved July 26, 2006.〕 Most species that become extinct are never scientifically documented. Some scientists estimate that up to half of presently existing plant and animal species may become extinct by 2100.〔Wilson, E.O., ''The Future of Life'' (2002) (ISBN 0-679-76811-4). See also: Leakey, Richard, ''The Sixth Extinction : Patterns of Life and the Future of Humankind'', ISBN 0-385-46809-1〕 == Definition == A species is extinct when the last existing member dies. Extinction therefore becomes a certainty when there are no surviving individuals that can reproduce and create a new generation. A species may become functionally extinct when only a handful of individuals survive, which cannot reproduce due to poor health, age, sparse distribution over a large range, a lack of individuals of both sexes (in sexually reproducing species), or other reasons. Pinpointing the extinction (or pseudoextinction) of a species requires a clear definition of that species. If it is to be declared extinct, the species in question must be uniquely distinguishable from any ancestor or daughter species, and from any other closely related species. Extinction of a species (or replacement by a daughter species) plays a key role in the punctuated equilibrium hypothesis of Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge.〔See: Niles Eldredge, ''Time Frames: Rethinking of Darwinian Evolution and the Theory of Punctuated Equilibria'', 1986, Heinemann ISBN 0-434-22610-6〕 In ecology, ''extinction'' is often used informally to refer to local extinction, in which a species ceases to exist in the chosen area of study, but may still exist elsewhere. This phenomenon is also known as extirpation. Local extinctions may be followed by a replacement of the species taken from other locations; wolf reintroduction is an example of this. Species which are not extinct are termed extant. Those that are extant but threatened by extinction are referred to as threatened or endangered species. Currently an important aspect of extinction is human attempts to preserve critically endangered species. These are reflected by the creation of the conservation status "extinct in the wild" (EW). Species listed under this status by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) are not known to have any living specimens in the wild, and are maintained only in zoos or other artificial environments. Some of these species are functionally extinct, as they are no longer part of their natural habitat and it is unlikely the species will ever be restored to the wild.〔Maas, Peter. "(Extinct in the Wild" ''The Extinction Website''. URL accessed January 26 2007. )〕 When possible, modern zoological institutions try to maintain a viable population for species preservation and possible future reintroduction to the wild, through use of carefully planned breeding programs. The extinction of one species' wild population can have knock-on effects, causing further extinctions. These are also called "chains of extinction". This is especially common with extinction of keystone species. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Extinction」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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