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10.11: Extinction and Radiation of Life

Difficulty Level: At Grade Created by: CK-12
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Should this pterodactyl be concerned? Should you?

When the dinosaurs were wiped out by an asteroid impact, the mammals were waiting to take over their niches. Could this happen again? Are there other ways species could go extinct and leave open niches for new organisms to fill?


Most of the species that have lived have also gone extinct. There are two ways to go extinct: besides the obvious way of dying out completely, a species goes extinct if it evolves into a different species. Extinction is a normal part of Earth's history.

But sometimes large numbers of species go extinct in a short amount of time. This is a mass extinction. The causes of different mass extinctions are different: collisions with comets or asteroids, massive volcanic eruptions, or rapidly changing climate are all possible causes of some of these disasters (Figure below).

An extinct Tyrannosaurus rex. This fossil resembling a living organism.

Adaptive Radiation

After a mass extinction, many habitats are no longer inhabited by organisms because they have gone extinct. With new habitats available, some species will adapt to the new environments. Evolutionary processes act rapidly during these times and many new species evolve to fill those available habitats. The process in which many new species evolve in a short period of time to fill available niches is called adaptive radiation. At the end of this period of rapid evolution the life forms do not look much like the ones that were around before the mass extinction. For example, after the extinction of the dinosaurs, mammals underwent adaptive radiation and became the dominant life form.


  • Species go extinct when all of the individuals die out or evolve into a different species.
  • Many species go extinct at roughly the same time during a mass extinction.
  • New habitats become available and species evolve to fill them so that biodiversity increases during adaptive radiation.

Making Connections


Use this resource to answer the questions that follow.


1. What percentage of all species are now extinct?

2. What is a mass extinction?

3. Why do extinctions occur?

4. What allows species to survive?

5. What is the cause of the current mass extinction?

6. How may species face extinction in the next 100 years?


1. Why is extinction considered a normal part of Earth's history?

2. What are some of the possible causes of mass extinctions?

3. Why do many new species evolve after a mass extinction?


adaptive radiation

adaptive radiation

An explosion in the diversity of species as vacant niches are filled. This often occurs after a mass extinction.

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Difficulty Level:
At Grade
Date Created:
Feb 24, 2012
Last Modified:
Mar 23, 2016
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