Raup, D. M. (1991). Extinction. Bad genes or bad luck?

Raup, D. M. (1991). Extintion. Bad genes or bad luck? Ed. W. W. Norton & Company. London.

Tot repassant les diferents extincions que ha hagut al llarg de la història geològica del nostre planeta, Raup ens presenta diferents teories, suposicions i dificultats per entendre com és que les espècies s’extingeixen.  Ho presenta com un fet natural, encara que poc estudiat. Es fa molt d’èmfasi amb l’evolució dels organismes, però en canvi considera que hi ha pocs científics especialitzats en extincions.  I ens deixa a la nostra reflexió valorar si l’extinció es deu a uns mals gens o a la mala sort.

Índex

Introduction by Stephen Jay Gould.

  1. Almost all species are extint.
    1. Is extinction important?
    2. Bad genes or bad luck?
    3. The nature of extinction.
    4. Who estudies extinction?
    5. A word about the word.
    6. Species defined.
    7. The purpose of extinction, if any.
  2. A brief history of life.
    1. Origin of life.
    2. Complex life.
    3. The quality of the fossil record.
    4. 600 million years of fussing.
    5. A stock market analogy.
    6. Trilobite eyes.
    7. Tropical reefs.
    8. Flying reptiles.
    9. Human evolution.
  3. Gambler’s ruin and other problems.
    1. Gambling.
    2. Concepts of randomness.
    3. Gambling for survival.
    4. Differing extinction and speciation rates.
    5. Skewed histograms.
    6. Others models.
    7. A note on extinction of surnames.
  4. Mass extinctions.
    1. The K-T mass extinction.
    2. Measuring extinction.
    3. A note on killing.
    4. Duration of mass extinction.
    5. Do mass extinction differ from background?
    6. The kill curve.
  5. Selectivity of extinction.
    1. Ice age blitzkrieg.
    2. Selectivity of the blitzkrieg.
    3. Body size and the K-T extinction.
    4. Other examples of size bias.
    5. Other examples of selectivity.
    6. Taxonomic selectivity.
    7. The trilobites’ bad genes.
    8. Some implications.
    9. Summary
  6. The search for causes.
    1. The rarity of extinction.
    2. Just so stories.
    3. Beware of anthropomorphism!
    4. The kill curve revisited.
  7. Biological causes of extinction.
    1. Are species and ecosystems fragile?
    2. The case of the heath hen.
    3. Importance of the first strike.
    4. Problems of small populations.
    5. Competition.
    6. Species-area effects.
    7. Species area and past extinctions.
    8. The great america interchange.
    9. The history of tropical rain forests.
  8. Physical causes of extinction.
    1. Tradicional favorites.
    2. Sea level and climate.
    3. Species area effects.
    4. Testing sea level and climate.
    5. The pleistocene experiencie.
    6. Exotic physical causes.
    7. Unheard-of volcanism.
    8. Cosmic Causes.
  9. Rocks falling out of the sky.
    1. Cratering rates.
    2. Destructive power.
    3. Alvarez and de the K-T extinction.
    4. Periodicity of extinction and Nemesis.
  10. Could all extinctions be caused by meteorite impact?
    1. Plausibility arguments.
    2. Arguments from observation.
    3. Extinctions are linked to craters.
    4. Extinctions are not linked to craters.
    5. Assessment.
  11. Perspectives on extinction.
    1. How to become extinct.
    2. Wanton extinction.
    3. The role of extinction in evolution.
    4. Bad genes or bad luck?
    5. A note on extinctions today.

Epilogue: Did we choose a safe planet?

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