Evolution: Multiple causes of high extinction risk in large mammal species

Marcel Cardillo*, Georgina M. Mace, Kate E. Jones, Jon Bielby, Olaf R.P. Bininda-Emonds, Wes Sechrest, C. David L. Orme, Andy Purvis

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

988 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Many large animal species have a high risk of extinction. This is usually thought to result simply from the way that species traits associated with vulnerability, such as low reproductive rates, scale with body size. In a broad-scale analysis of extinction risk in mammals, we find two additional patterns in the size selectivity of extinction risk. First, impacts of both intrinsic and environmental factors increase sharply above a threshold body mass around 3 kilograms. Second, whereas extinction risk in smaller species is driven by environmental factors, in larger species it is driven by a combination of environmental factors and intrinsic traits. Thus, the disadvantages of large size are greater than generally recognized, and future loss of large mammal biodiversity could be far more rapid than expected.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1239-1241
Number of pages3
JournalScience
Volume309
Issue number5738
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 19 Aug 2005
Externally publishedYes

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