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Making of Mass Extinctions Poster 2015

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Making of Mass Extinctions Poster 2015 The Making of Mass Extinctions The Big Five Mass Extinctions The Sixth Mass Extinction? Extinction is a normal part of the evolutionary process and most species that have ever existed are not living today. The normal loss of species through time is generally balanced A large number of current ecological threats have by the rise of new species. Mass extinctions, however, disrupt this balance–representing times when many more species go extinct than are replaced by new ones. moved extinction rates above normal levels and potentially put numerous species on the path to Scientists have found evidence of five mass extinction events during Earth’s history. What caused these “Big Five” extinction events? And are we about to enter a sixth mass extinction? extinction. If left unchecked, some scientists The graph shows estimated rates of extinction plotted over geologic time. The fossil record reveals that these rates fluctuate around a generally low level, but peak at certain predict that within a few human generations, the points in Earth’s history, indicating mass extinction events. sixth mass extinction will become inevitable. Ordovician Devonian Permian Triassic Cretaceous Anthropocene Quaternary Cambrian Silurian Carboniferous Jurassic Paleogene Neogene END ORDOVICIAN EXTINCTION Environmental Factors CRETACEOUS EXTINCTION Environmental Factors END PERMIAN EXTINCTION Glacial and interglacial Supercontinent Environmental Factors episodes caused sea moves to South Pole levels to rise and fall Volcanic activity prior to Tectonic uplift and dramatically, moving impact acidified oceans weathering shorelines repeatedly. Asteroid impact and increased global Basalt lava covered vast (Yucatán Peninsula, Continental erosion changed atmosphere and temperatures. Tectonic Anthropocene Extinction? areas of land. Huge Mexico) ocean chemistry. Massive volcanic uplift and erosion clouds of sulfur dioxide activity in Siberia enriched oceans with nutrients and depleted Environmental Factors Affected Species (80% Extinct) (SO2) and carbon dioxide them of oxygen. Asteroid impact caused brief Trilobites, corals, brachiopods, bryozoans, (CO2) caused acid rain, ocean acidification, and superheating followed by rapid cooling and echinoderms, graptolites, nautiloids, conodonts LATE DEVONIAN EXTINCTION global warming. TRIASSIC EXTINCTION pushed already stressed species over the edge. Environmental Factors Affected Species (96% Extinct) Affected Species (76% Extinct) Amphibians, early reptiles, insects, trilobites, Environmental Factors Dinosaurs, pterosaurs, mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, Human activity sea scorpions, corals Many environmental mammals, ammonites, shell-building species, plants factors linked to past extinctions exist today. Burning of fossil fuels, farming, and deforestation Land plants consumed elevate carbon dioxide (CO2) levels that cause atmospheric carbon Atmospheric carbon Rapid growth of dioxide (CO2) levels rose, ocean acidification, global warming, and rising dioxide (CO2), which Underwater land plants causing global warming sea levels. Pollutants alter the chemistry of the caused global cooling. volcanic activity and ocean acidification. atmosphere, soil, and water; algal blooms deplete Weathering plant roots released nutrients into the 20 oceans and lakes of oxygen. Habitat loss, sea, causing algal blooms and oxygen depletion. Affected Species (80% Extinct) overfishing, and introduction of invasive species Amphibians, reptiles, bivalves, conodonts, corals, Affected Species (75% Extinct) disrupt ecosystems and reduce biodiversity. ammonites, brachiopods Armored fish, corals 15 10 Extinction Rate (Families Per Million Years) Million Per (Families 5 443 359 251 200 65 0 Quaternary Cambrian Ordovician Silurian Devonian Carboniferous Permian Triassic Jurassic Cretaceous Paleogene Neogene Anthropocene 500 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Future Image Credits: Globe: Bill Pietsch, A3MG; Ordovician habitat: University of Michigan Museum of Natural History; Land plants: iStock/Thinkstock; Volcanos: Hemera/Thinkstock; Asteroid impact: iStock/Thinkstock; Smoke stacks: iStock/Thinkstock; Cityscape: iStock/Thinkstock; Devonian, Permian, Triassic, and Cretaceous habitat: John Sibbick Millions of Years Ago © 2015 Howard Hughes Medical Institute. This poster is provided free of charge by HHMI for educational purposes; the poster may not be sold or resold. All other rights reserved..
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