An extinct termite in trapped in amber.
New research shows that Earth's ecosystem is slow to recover from mass extinctions.
For all practical purposes, when a species is gone, it's gone. Scientists analyzed fossils and calculated it takes about 10 million years after a plant or animal becomes extinct before anything resembling it reappears. Future Looks Grim Kirchner and Weil said the analysis confirms the fears of many scientists worried about the increasing loss of plant and animal life. Biologists estimate that up to half of the known animal and plant species in the world could be wiped out within a century. Stanford University biologist Paul Ehrlich, author of the 1968 best seller The Population Bomb , said the research suggests the near future may be grim.