ABSTRACT
Extinction and habitat loss epitomise our sense of a biodiversity crises. This chapter covers:
Extinction can bring with it all the familiarity and fame akin to that of a dead pop star. The dodo and the dinosaurs are household names, evocative of failure. Neither deserves this epitaph and the confusion between types of extinction, natural versus anthropogenic, hinders our understanding of the rates and causes of loss. This chapter describes losses to biodiversity during the current crisis, driven by human activities, the causes, both ecological and economic and consequences.
