There weren’t 6: study suggests we are in the 7th mass extinction

A life on earth originated billions of years ago and developed on a geological time scale, that is, over millions and millions of years.

To achieve the biodiversity that exists on the planet today, several adaptations of living beings were necessary, according to the theory proposed by Darwin. However, this evolution has already been threatened several times, according to what scientific studies show.

Throughout this time, life has been put at great risk by climatic and natural effects. In this context, studies show that there have already been five mass extinctions on the planet and that we would be living the sixth.

Despite this belief, it seems that a new study proposes a different view of this count: that is because, according to the new surveys, we are already experiencing a seventh mass extinction. Find out more below.

Study shows we are already in the 7th mass extinction

Photo: Stocktrek Images/Net Geo/Reproduction

Until now, it was believed that we were experiencing a 6th mass extinction, with harmful changes in nature caused by human action.

However, recently, scientists from the University of California at Riverside (UCR) and Virginia Tech concluded, based on their research, that a sixth extinction has already occurred.

They refer to evidence that proves a loss of biodiversity 550 million years ago. According to the study published in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences”, this extinction would have occurred in the Ediacaran period, with the death of around 80% of multicellular life.

How did researchers discover this mass extinction?

Researchers faced challenging obstacles, such as fossil conservation, since the beings of the time had soft tissue bodies, making it difficult to differentiate this from other later events.

According to study co-author Rachel Surprenant of UCR, her team had to pull together several databases to prove their discovery. From the analysis of the environmenthabits of individuals, body and behavioral aspects of the Ediacarans, scientists were able to detect this extinction.

Chenyi Tu, a UCR paleocologist and co-author, explains:

“Geological records show that the world’s oceans lost a large amount of oxygen during this period, and the few species that survived had bodies adapted to low-oxygen environments.”

What was the cause of the 6th mass extinction, according to scientists?

The authors of the study were able to determine that the loss of species and subjects occurred due to the decrease in oxygen on the planet, which caused the climate to become extreme. They indicate this data by analyzing the relationship between the volume of the bodies of the creatures of the time and the surface area.

This means that we will actually enter the seventh mass extinctionand not on Friday, as previously believed. Although it seems that the science is put to the test with studies like this, the truth is that it works exactly like this.

Finally, new discoveries may emerge at any time and challenge the information obtained or add new knowledge. Therefore, science is not immutable and considers any and all concrete data that may emerge in the future.