The background rate of extinction is much smaller than those that occur during a mass extinction. For example, carnotaurus sastrei went extinct during the mid-Cretaceous, when only a handful of dinosaurs went extinct. On the other hand, 65 million years ago, all dinosaurs went extinct during the K/T mass extinction event.
Most extinctions occur as background extinctions because they are longer time periods unlike the shorter mass extinctions which there were only two in the Paleozoic era, the Ordovician mass extinction, and the Permian/Triassic extinction in which 95% of all marine animals became extinct
Mass extinction - More than 50% of the population went extinct in a short period of time.Background extinction - An average rate of extinction occurred during a given time period.
Non-examples of mass extinction include events such as local extinctions, where specific species disappear from a particular area but survive elsewhere, and background extinctions, which occur gradually over time due to normal evolutionary processes. Additionally, events like the decline of a species due to habitat loss or human impact, without affecting the broader ecosystem, do not qualify as mass extinctions. Furthermore, changes in species populations due to climate fluctuations that do not lead to widespread species loss also fall outside the definition of mass extinction.
Notable extinctions during the last mass extinction included all non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, and ammonites.
The most devastating mass extinction occurred in the Late Permian (~250 million years ago).
Which mass extinction? There have been five such events. The first one, the Ordovician-Silurian extinction event occurred before the Devonian. The Late Devonian event occurred during the Devonian. All other mass extinctions occurred after the Devonian.
The three mass extinctions referred to are the Permian-Triassic extinction about 252 million years ago, the Triassic-Jurassic extinction about 201 million years ago, and the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction about 66 million years ago.
Mass extinctions are usually followed by long periods of low or absent population. Some species always survive a mass extinction, following the Darwinian law of survival. When the dinosaurs died out the mammals began to prevail and eventually took over.
Background extinctions are typically caused by natural events such as climate change, volcanic eruptions, or asteroid impacts. Mass extinctions are often attributed to catastrophic events like major asteroid impacts, volcanic eruptions, or significant climate change, which cause widespread disruption to ecosystems and species. Human activities, such as habitat destruction, pollution, and overexploitation of resources, can also contribute to both background and mass extinctions.
Mass extinctions have the effect of eliminating a large number of species, which leaves a wide variety of niches open to new species. Whichever species survive the mass extinction quickly evolve into many new forms to fill the empty niches. The Permian-Triassic Extinction Event left niches open to the dinosaurs, and the Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction eliminated dinosaurs, leaving niches open to mammals.
For all mass extinctions (except the Cretaceous/Paleogene extinction) two probable causes are volcanic eruptions and ocean anoxia.
There have been five major mass extinctions in Earth's history, known as the "Big Five." These events significantly altered biodiversity and led to the extinction of a large percentage of species. The most well-known of these is the Permian-Triassic extinction, which occurred around 252 million years ago and is believed to have eliminated about 90% of marine species. The most recent mass extinction, the Cretaceous-Paleogene event, occurred approximately 66 million years ago, leading to the extinction of the dinosaurs.