How are evolution and extinction related?

Answer 1

Biodiversity is having an ecosystem with various life forms (organisms) inhabiting it. If a species goes extinct, then automatically biodiversity is decreased. This also means that other animals that may rely on this specie as a food source may also die off, resulting in a further loss of biodiversity. This will have a large ripple effect throughout the entire ecosystem.

Answer 2

Evolution ensures that species are able to adapt and avoid extinction. /\

In the coarse of evolution extinction can happen ,if the adjustments made by the organisms does not help to survive in the environment.

Answer 3

Extinction, from natural forces, is the role of natural selection.

All things being otherwise equal, it's a strong indication that the species was not well adapted to surviving the environmental pressures.

It's not a fault, nor a superiority nor a complexity indicator.

There are schools of thought where extinction plays no direct "role" in evolution, except to define a terminal position in natural selection, but most generally agree that there is a role, but it's not well-understood.

Of course, those don't apply to catastrophic or targetted extinction (like a comet hitting the earth, nuclear bomb, forest-fire, introduction of a new species, overhunting...).

Answer 4

Consider one extinction event. The event of 65 million tears ago that destroyed the dinosaurs. Mammals underwent an extreme adaptive radiation event and evolved to fill many ecological niches left open by the demise of the dinosaur.

Answer 5

As an example take the dinosaur extinction of 65 million years ago. At that time most, if not all mammals, were shrew like creatures. The adaptive radiation of the mammals into all the ecological niches the dinosaurs vacated and their extreme variation from that point was adaptive radiation writ large.

Answer 6

Evolution and extinction are related in that they are both processes that shape the diversity of life on Earth. Evolution drives the development of new species over time through natural selection and genetic changes, while extinction occurs when a species no longer exists. Extinction can create opportunities for other species to evolve and adapt to fill ecological niches left vacant.

Answer 7

Evolution ensures that species are able to adapt and avoid extinction.

Answer 8

Mass extinctions may open up new ecological niches for the survivors to diverge into.