Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Extinction Training During the Reconsolidation Window Prevents Recovery of Fear
Published on: August 24, 2012
Extinction from a paleontological perspective
1Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.
Abstract:
Extinction of widespread species is common in evolutionary time (millions of years) but rare in ecological time (hundreds or thousands of years). In the fossil record, there appears to be a smooth continuum between background and mass extinction; and the clustering of extinctions at mass extinctions cannot be explained by the chance coincidence of independent events. Although some extinction is selective, much is apparently random in that survivors have no recognizable superiority over victims. Extinction certainly plays an important role in evolution, but whether it is constructive or destructive has not yet been determined.
Related Concept Videos
Threats to Biodiversity
Conservation of Small Populations
Conservation of Declining Populations
What is Evolutionary History?
The Evidence for Evolution
The Fossil Record

