kosmos: Holocene extinction

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

The Holocene or Anthropocene extinction is an ongoing extinction event caused by human activity during the current geological epoch, impacting diverse families of plants and animals, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates, as well as both terrestrial and marine species. It is sometimes also called the sixth extinction (though this can also describe the Capitanian). Current extinction rates are estimated at 100 to 1,000 times higher than natural background extinction rates. The Holocene extinction was preceded by the Late Pleistocene extinctions at the end of the last ice age (to which human activity also likely contributed) and the extinctions caused by Poly…

Evidence: 68 • authority: 72

In the geologic time scale, the Greenlandian is the earliest age or lowest stage of the Holocene Epoch or Series, part of the Quaternary. Beginning in 11,650 BP (9701 BCE or 300 HE) and ending with the 8.2-kiloyear event (c. 8200–8300 BP, 6200–6300 BCE, 3600–3700 HE), it is the earliest of three sub-divisions of the Holocene. It was officially ratified by the International Commission on Stratigraphy in June 2018 with the later Northgrippian and Meghalayan Ages/Stages. The lower boundary of the Greenlandian Age is the GSSP sample from the North Greenland Ice Core Project in central Greenland (75.1000°N 42.3200°W). The Greenlandian GSSP has been correlated with the end of Younger Dryas (from…

Evidence: 57 • authority: 80

Evidence: 51 • authority: 72

This is a list of European species extinct in the Holocene that covers extinctions from the Holocene epoch, a geologic epoch that began about 11,650 years before present (about 9700 BCE) and continues to the present day. This list includes the European continent and its surrounding islands. All large islands in the Mediterranean Sea are included except for Cyprus, which is in the List of Asian species extinct in the Holocene. The recently extinct species of the Macaronesian islands in the North Atlantic are listed separately. The three Caucasian republics of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia are included, even though their territory may fall partially or fully in Asia depending on the defini…

Evidence: 46 • authority: 72

The Late Pleistocene to the beginning of the Holocene saw the extinction of the majority of the world's megafauna, typically defined as animal species having body masses of 45 kg (99 lb) or more, which resulted in a collapse in faunal density and diversity across the globe. The extinctions during the Late Pleistocene are differentiated from previous extinctions by their extreme size bias towards large animals (with small animals being largely unaffected), the widespread absence of ecological succession to replace these extinct megafaunal species, and the regime shift of previously established faunal relationships and habitats as a consequence. The timing and severity of the extinctions vari…

Evidence: 40 • authority: 80

Evidence: 40 • authority: 72

Evidence: 35 • authority: 72

This list of African species extinct in the Holocene covers extinctions from the Holocene epoch, a geologic epoch that began about 11,650 years before present (about 9700 BCE) and continues to the present. Africa is highly biodiverse; it is the continent with the largest number of megafauna species, as it was least affected by the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna. However, a few species have disappeared from Africa as part of the ongoing Holocene extinction, driven by human activity. Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands, Macaronesia, and Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha are biogeographically distinct from mainland Africa and have a much greater number of Holocene extin…

Evidence: 35 • authority: 72

This article is a list of biological species, subspecies, and evolutionary significant units that are known to have become extinct during the Holocene, the current geologic epoch, ordered by their known or approximate date of disappearance from oldest to most recent. The Holocene is considered to have started with the Holocene glacial retreat around 11650 years Before Present (c. 9700 BC). It is characterized by a general trend towards global warming, the expansion of anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) to all emerged land masses, the appearance of agriculture and animal husbandry, and a reduction in global biodiversity. The latter, dubbed the sixth mass extinction in Earth history, i…