But one thing is for sure, the extinction rate has been wildly overstated.
For 30 years some have suggested that extinctions through tropical forest loss are occurring at a rate of up to 100 species a day and yet less than 1,200 extinctions have been recorded in the last 400 years.
http://www.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets...
Also see: http://conservationbytes.com/2010/01/04/...
And Study Abstract: http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cp...
And more often than not, when a species is declared extinct, it's usually found alive and well sometime later.
Allow me to enter into the record 99,500 instances of "thought extinct"
http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-ab&q=...
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I do remember watching a show a week or so that was about the Thylacine, Australia's supposed extinct Tasmanian Tiger. There were some interesting reports that it might still be hanging on but anyway the show said that 2 / 3rds of the animals that were declared extinct, ended up being rediscovered. They mentioned the Okapi as an example. I don't have any idea if they are close to be factual. I too don't think anyone can give an accurate answer with any degree of certainty.
The extinction rate has been accelerating
exponentially
? Shifting from species-poor islands to speciesrich continents
? Species are threatened in increasingly complex
ways
? More types of species are being affected and
most of the earth’s biotas are now suffering
losses
There is rampant speculation on this number, and almost no hard science. The best data available suggests an extinction rate of about one per year.
See this article by the late Julian Simon:
http://www.juliansimon.com/writings/Arti...
This is a subject where people can say pretty much what ever they want to, as it is extremely difficult to find evidence either way.
My opinion is that any one who says 1000 (or however many) species have gone extinct the they should supply a list of the creatures that are no longer here.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/06/01/co...
