It will take millions of years to evolve to replace what we could lose in the next 50 years

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<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "A new study from the Danish University of 39 Aarhus and the Swedish University of Gothenberg shows that animal extinctions are occurring at a rate so fast that evolution is failing to keep pace.Without stricter conservation efforts in the world, it will probably take millions of years for mammals to naturally recover from biodiversity losses they should last for the next 50 years, "says the study published in PNAS."data-reactid =" 32 "> A new study by the Danish University of Aarhus and the Swedish University of Gothenberg shows that animal extinctions are currently occurring at such a rapid pace that Evolution is failing to keep pace With no stricter conservation efforts around the world, "it will probably take millions of years for mammals to naturally recover biodiversity losses that they should be sustained over the next 50 years, "says the study published in PNAS.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "There have been five major extinctions in the l & # 39; history of life on Earth: in 2015, author Elizabeth Kolbert published The sixth extinction, a Pulitzer Prize-winning exam showing how humans were evolving alongside the extinction of many species. Using the Kolbert language, the new study shows that many of Earth's large terrestrial species will find life increasingly inhospitable. "Data-reactid =" 33 "> There have been five major extinctions in the history of life on Earth.In 2015, author Elizabeth Kolbert published The sixth extinction, a Pulitzer Prize-winning exam showing how humans evolved in the face of the extinction of many species. Using Kolbert's language, the new study shows that many of Earth's largest terrestrial species will find life increasingly inhospitable.

"We once lived in a world of giants: giant beaver, giant armadillos, giant deer, etc., we are now living in a world increasingly poor in large wild mammals," says Professor Jens-Christian Svenning. Aarhus in a Press Statement. "The few remaining giants, such as rhinos and elephants, may disappear very quickly."

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "One of the wonders of biodiversity is the animal that has distinct evolutionary lineages: an animal like the now extinct Macrauchenia is a perfect example. With bones originally discovered by Charles Darwin during his travels, the famous HMS Beagle, the Macrauchenia can be described as having the body of a llama or a giant camel, the feet of a rhinoceros and an elephant's trunk. When the Macrauchenia if it's off, its evolutionary branch is extinct with it. the Macrauchenia data-reactid = "35"> One of the wonders of biodiversity is animals with distinct evolutionary lineages. An animal like the now extinct Macrauchenia is a perfect example. With bones originally discovered by Charles Darwin during his travels, the famous HMS Beagle, the Macrauchenia can be described as having the body of a llama or a giant camel, the feet of a rhinoceros and an elephant's trunk. When the Macrauchenia if it's off, its evolutionary branch is extinct with it. the Macrauchenia had played a unique role in its environment and evolution had taken millions of years to fulfill this role again.

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<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "The parents closest to the Macrauchenia are Perissodactyla order order, which includes zebras, rhinos and tapirs. These are now some of the same animals threatened by the destruction of the environment by humans.
"data-reactid =" 57 "> The closest relatives of Macrauchenia are Perissodactyla order order, which includes zebras, rhinos and tapirs. These are now some of the same animals threatened by the destruction of the environment by humans.

<p class = "canvas-atom web-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "The black rhino, for example, lives mainly in Africa of East and is classified as "critically endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Other biologically diverse families are also at risk: l & # 39; s 39; Elephant of Asia is one of only two surviving species of mammalian order Proboscidea. Defined by the long trunks and the massive size, ProboscideaHis ancestry includes the behemoth of the glory of the Ice Age. IUCN ranked the Asian elephant as "endangered" and noted that its population was decreasing. "Data-reactid =" 58 "> The black rhino, for example, lives mainly in East Africa and is classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as a & # 39; 39; "critically endangered." Other biologically diverse families are also at risk: the Asian elephant is one of only two surviving species in the world. order of mammals Proboscidea. Defined by the long trunks and the massive size, ProboscideaHis ancestry includes the behemoth of the glory of the Ice Age. IUCN has listed the Asian elephant as "endangered" and notes that its population is declining.

"There are hundreds of species of shrews, which allows them to withstand some extinctions," said paleontologist Matt Davis of Aarhus University, who led the study, in a statement. Press. "There were only four species of saber-toothed tigers, all of which have disappeared".

With the help of computer simulations and what the study calls a "birth and death tree framework," the team used the expected extinctions to calculate the time that it took. It would be necessary for the Earth to regenerate its biodiversity lost during natural evolution. They examined extinction before the arrival of mankind and thereafter to determine how much man had made life difficult for modern animals.

The best possible recovery scenario was three to five million years, more than five million years being required to bring the Earth back to the biological diversity of the ice age.

This is why scientists think that conservation is now a better approach.

"It's much easier to save biodiversity now," says Davis, "than to evolve it later."

Source: University of Aarhus

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