Extinction hits 'whole families'

Whole “chunks of life” are lost in extinction events, as related species vanish together, say scientists.

A study in the journal Science shows that extinctions tend to “cluster” on evolutionary lineages – wiping out species with a common ancestor.

The finding is based on an examination of past extinctions, but could help current conservation efforts.

Researchers say that this phenomenon can result in the loss of an entire branch of the “tree of life”.

…Richard Greyner likened this loss to a fire in a library.

“Because whole sections are lost – the whole of the physics section, or all of the romantic fiction, the overall loss is much worse than if you randomly burned every 400th book.”

BBC