Biological Correlates of Extinction: What Does Differentiate Survivors From Victims?

Abstract

Since Georges Cuvier introduced the concept of extinction to the scientific community at the end of the 18 th century, researchers further studied how, where, and when it tended to occur in nature. Some of these researchers, such as JeanBaptiste Lamarck and Charles Lyell, speculated whether species with certain biological traits were more prone to extinction than other species lacking these traits (i.e. extinction selectivity). Following the definition of "mass extinction", first studies on the Cretaceous mass extinction, and the development Conservation Biology field, there has been an increasingly amount of studies on extinction. In addition, several of these studies have been able to identify various biological traits usually found in organisms with high extinction risk (i.e. biological correlates of extinction). In this work, extinction correlates usually found in both past and recent extinctions for several biological groups are reviewed. Also, it is discussed how extinction selectivity can have distinct macroevolutionary effects on biodiversity depending on the extent of environmental disturbances in a specific time period. Moreover, evidences are presented indicating that a new period of mass extinction can begin if conservation actions are not taken properly in the near future. After so many years of development of biological theory on extinction, advantage must be taken of its advances in an objective way in prioritization methods to improve conservation actions while dealing with the reduction of resources for humans and wildlife. This is not only necessary to decrease biodiversity loss, but also to prevent humans from extinction. KEYWORDS: Extinction selectivity, Mass extinction, Conservation. EXTINÇÃO SELETIVA: O QUE DIFERENCIA SOBREVIVENTES DE VÍTIMAS?RESUMO Georges Cuvier introduziu o conceito de extinção para a comunidade científica ao final do século 18. Desde então, pesquisadores estudam como, onde e quando a extinção tende a ocorrer na natureza. Alguns desses pesquisadores, como JeanBaptiste Lamarck e Charles Lyell, já especulavam que algumas espécies com determinadas características biológicas eram mais propensas à extinção do que outras que não as possuíam (i.e. extinção seletiva). Após (1) a definição do conceito de "extinção em massa", (2) os primeiros estudos sobre a extinção em massa do Cretáceo, e (3) o desenvolvimento do campo da Biologia da Conservação, tem havido uma quantidade cada vez maior de estudos sobre extinção. Vários destes estudos identificaram características biológicas normalmente encontradas em