How does mass extinction differ from species extinction?

1 Answer
Jun 24, 2015

A mass extinction is when 50-90% of species go extinct whereas a species extinction is the demise of one species.

Explanation:

A mass extinction is when many species go extinct, and they are incredibly rare. Species extinctions are much more common and happen quite regularly. In the past decade, several species have gone extinct: the Yantze River dolphin, Pyrenean ibex, and the alaotra grebe are a few examples. Click here for more.

We're currently in the middle of a sixth mass extinction event . The most recent one before this was around the time the dinosaurs went extinct, around 250 million years ago.