A new evolutionary study suggests that species could become extinct more than once. In biology, once the last animal from a certain species dies, the animals are considered extinct. This new theory implies that the same species could experience the demise twice.
Societal Extinction of Species
A statue depicting a giant dinosaur painted with radioactive symbols and blue gas flames has been installed by Greenpeace activists outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, in protest against the inclusion of fossil gas and nuclear energy in the EU's list of sustainable investments in Brussels, on December 7, 2021.
Species could go extinct through various factors. But alongside the disappearance of the animals and plants from the collective knowledge, the new research explains another type of obsolescence known as "societal extinction."
Societal extinction has the power to drive our perception of the environment functioning around us. In addition, the aspect could influence our efforts in protection and conservation.
In the study, the authors suggest preventing societal extinction by putting conservation efforts more than we are giving today. They explained that the increase of losing memories from these species could alter our perception of the importance of what remains on the planet's current biodiversity.
Societal extinctions are strong drivers of conservation efforts in terms of protecting biodiversity, as they could limit and even erase our expectations of the environment and its natural state, according to the University of Oxford's zoology expert and co-author of the study Josh Firth.
How Societal Extinction Works
The latest research examined previous papers to describe how societal extinction works. Among the factors they looked into are the cultural or symbolic importance of the species, the amount of time since they went extinct, and the link of the events to humans.
Societal extinction frequently occurs after a biological extinction. But according to the authors, there is a possibility that both extinctions could happen simultaneously. This rare occurrence depends on how humans collectively perceive the particular species.
In medicinal plants, for example, many species are most likely to be societally extinct regardless of their abundance in the natural environment. It is because the utility of these treatments is being replaced gradually by modern-day medicinal innovations, causing the plants to be forgotten altogether.
Other species also experience societal extinction because of their removal from a certain civilization or their microscopic size, putting them in an unidentified societal presence.
University of the Negev's ecology researcher and co-author of the study Uri Roll said in a Science Alert report that some species remain collectively known and even more popular even after their extinction.
But the awareness and memory from these species are being slowly altered as time passes by. Results become inaccurate, simplified, and could even disassociate from the original species, Roll added.
The phenomenon was evident from a conservation study conducted over an avian species called Spix's macaw. The 2013 research surveyed 242 children from Brazil, with almost all of them incorrectly identifying the origin of the birds as Rio de Janeiro. The answers from the kids were influenced by the 2011 movie "Rio," in which the avian appeared.
Multiple relationships between societal extinction and conservation efforts are found in the research. Basically, our lack of support for biodiversity protection could lead to losing memories and records of extinct species. Realizing what we have already lost, including the cognitive and emotional consequences, is essential to conserve biodiversity.
Many occurrences of societal extinction may show up in the future if damaging activities and lack of connection with nature continue, the experts concluded.
The study titled "Societal extinction of species" was published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution.
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