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background extinction rate
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background extinction rate

biology

Learn about this topic in these articles:

conservation and biodiversity

  • terrestrial hot spots of biodiversity
    In conservation: Calculating background extinction rates

    To discern the effect of modern human activity on the loss of species requires determining how fast species disappeared in the absence of that activity. Studies of marine fossils show that species last about 1–10 million years. Assume that all these extinctions…

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