Extinctions
- Extinctions occur when there are no remaining individuals of a species still alive
- Species that are poorly adapted to their environment are less likely to survive and reproduce compared to species that are well adapted to their environment
- If they are unable to survive and reproduce sufficiently to maintain their population numbers they will eventually go extinct
- Some factors which may contribute to the extinction of a species include:
Factors that can lead to extinction table
Examiner Tip
Extinction is occurring all the time. Although it is happening naturally for many of the reasons in the table above, human activities have also massively increased extinction rates in recent history.We are very successful predators and have hunted many species to extinction (eg. the dodo). We also compete very effectively against other species for resources such as space, food and water.
