Extinction

Wording of this Handout:

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What caused and animal to become extinct?

The word "extinct means "to die out
completely."

For example, the Dodo is an extinct bird because there is not a single dodo living anywhere in the world

Why did the dinosaurs become extinct?

There are lots of probable reasons:

1. They were killed by people - just as many animals are being killed by hunters today.

2. They ran out of food - just as many animals today starve to death when there is a drought or something.

3. They lost their environment - just as many animals today die out because of humans burning their forests, or flooding their valleys with a dam.

4. They died because of diseases - just as today many animals die because of such things as foot and mouth disease, anthrax, and Dutch elm disease.

5. They died because of genetic problems - just as mutations kill off plants and animals today.

6. They died because of accidents - just as floods, fires, earthquakes, avalanches, tornadoes and so on kill animals today.

There really is no mystery at all in why the dinosaurs died out. Those that survived the Great Flood went the same way that many other creatures and plants did then and are doing now.