Question

What do you mean by the term extinct?

Answer 1

Hint: Extinct simply refers to plant or animal species that are no longer in existence on this planet. This process is known as extinction. Such species of organisms which no longer exist anywhere on the planet are known as extinct species.

Complete answer:
The term ‘extinct’ generally means ‘no longer in existence’. Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or a group of similar organisms, usually a species. A particular species is said to be extinct, generally, with the death of the last individual of that species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been before this point. This is a natural step in the process of evolution. However, extinction may happen at a much faster rate than usual. For example, 65 million years ago, by the end of the Cretaceous period, a mass extinction led to the death of many plant and animal species including the dinosaurs. Some of the other extinct species include the woolly Mammoth, giant shark- Megalodon, sabre-toothed tigers etc.

Additional information:
There are two types of extinction, namely, Background extinction and Mass extinction.
Background extinction: It refers to the normal extinction rate which is a natural evolutionary process. These are the species that become extinct because such species simply cannot survive and not all lives can be sustained on Earth.
Mass extinction: It is a widespread event that wipes off the majority of the living plant and animal population. One of the best examples of a mass extinction event is the asteroid that hit Earth millions of years ago that led to the extinction of the entire Dinosaur population.

Note: One of the major causes of rapid extinction is human intervention. Hunting, over exploitation of wildlife and habitat destruction (such as to build a dam etc.) are the major reasons that are pushing various plant and animal species to the edge of extinction.