How Do Scientists Decide a Species Has Gone Extinct? (www.the-scientist.com)

submitted 1 year ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/biodiversity@mander.xyz

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[-] unicorn@mander.xyz 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Thank you for sharing this article, it was an interesting read. I was not so aware of the moral dilemma of declaring a species extinct and it is bizzare to me that we need to have an endangered species to stop destroying a habitat. Why not just protect nature for nature's sake? Why is it fine to completely erase an island's forests just because we think its resident endangered bird is already extinct? It's bizzare to me.

[-] sinkingship@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago

Yes, it was new to me as well. It's not only bizarre to you. To me it sounds gruesome. We kill without thought until a species is almost extinct. Suddenly we care. Isn't that similar to torture but make sure they don't die?

[-] TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz 2 points 1 year ago

And let alone all of the undiscovered species we've destroyed along the way. It's horrible how we treat nature.

this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2023

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Biodiversity

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Biodiversity is a term used to describe the enormous variety of life on Earth. It can be used more specifically to refer to all of the species in one region or ecosystem. Biodiversity refers to every living thing, including plants, bacteria, animals, and humans. Scientists have estimated that there are around 8.7 million species of plants and animals in existence. However, only around 1.2 million species have been identified and described so far, most of which are insects. This means that millions of other organisms remain a complete mystery.

Over generations, all of the species that are currently alive today have evolved unique traits that make them distinct from other species. These differences are what scientists use to tell one species from another. Organisms that have evolved to be so different from one another that they can no longer reproduce with each other are considered different species. All organisms that can reproduce with each other fall into one species. Read more...

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