Holocene Extinction

The Holocene extinction, also known as the Anthropocene extinction (and also referred to as the 6th/sixth mass extinction or just the 6th/sixth extinction), is the sixth current mass extinction and extinction event in earth's history and the only man-made mass extinction in natural history.

The Holocene extinction is estimated to have started at least 500,000-200,000 years ago, around the time that anatomically modern humans (specifically Homo Sapiens Sapiens) first appeared. The first victims were megafaunal mammals in central Africa that were unable to adapt from overhunting by us and our human ancestors.

## History

As its most common name suggests, the **Sixth Mass Extinction**, this mass crisis/event is the sixth mass extinction to occur on earth. Simply put, a mass extinction is an event in which mass amount of species (predominantly animals) die off. The cause can vary depending on the extinction being discussed.

Previous five mass extinction occurred prior, with the last one being the most famous (the K-T Extinction, aka the extinction of the dinosaurs) among the general public. The other four are the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event, the Late Devonian extinction, the Late Ordovician extinction, and the Permian-Triassic extinction, which was much worse in scale than the other extinctions, including the one that killed the non-avian dinosaurs.

Scientists theorize that the first wave of extinction occurred as soon as humans appeared and hunted animal species. As humans began migrating out of Africa, further waves of extinction occurred, with few megafaunal species outside of Africa surviving. This is due to the fauna within Africa evolved alongside with and learned to fear humans. Despite this, they are unable to avoid extinction any longer, as rapid human activity on the continent since the Industrial Revolution has kicked the extinction into overdrive (as well as the megafauna that still survived on other continents which share the same fate).

As of the 2020s, the sixth extinction has gone into full swing

## Fauna

Most species that originated in deep prehistory and survived past extinctions are predicted to disappear in this extinction, such as sharks, amphibians, beetles, and abalones, to name a few. Also in the mix are species whose groups originated during the Cenozoic from as far as the Paleocene to as recently as the Pleistocene, which includes, but is not limited to, elephants, ungulates, big cats, wolves and non human primates (lemurs, apes, monkeys, and other assorted primates), among others. Most species mentioned are megafauna, which evolved during the Pleistocene, though they were much numerous during the Pleistocene and the early holocene.

Most of the marine mammal fauna (particularly cetaceans) originated during the Pleistocene, but outlived most of the Pleistocene land megafauna due to being safe from human influence, as they were in the oceans and humanity did not have the appropriate technology to enter the oceans at the time. If any marine mammalian fauna disappeared, it most likely would have been coastal species, like seals and sea lions, and species restricted to a certain specific range.

Also among the species projected to disappear are certain domestic species due to having little use and/or are few in number in a demanding and changing world. As an example, yaks and llamas will most likely disappear in the distant future, due to having little use for global demand, as sheep fulfill that need easily.

## Consequences

An extinction such as this can have disastrous and long lasting effects on humanity, and such effects will become a burden for humanity, which includes the disappearance of much needed buffer species who are necessary to the survival of their respective environments and ecosystems.

For example, animals such as deer have deadly ectoparasites which are dangerous to humans. When deer become extinct, their parasites will be forced to search for new hosts, and thus, will use humanity and their livestock and pets as hosts.

Another example is the freshwater arthropods such as isopod Hyallela azteca, which is used to measure the ph level in freshwater. This particular species is easily threatened by water pollution such as dumping wastewater and freshwater acidification.

## References

1. ↑ https://owlcation.com/stem/The-African-Megafauna
2. ↑ https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/sciencecommunication/2018/09/09/the-great-dying-how-the-dinosaurs-had-it-easy/
3. ↑ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-43516211
4. ↑ https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54091048
5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TqhcZsxrPA