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Pseudoextinction

Pseudoextinction takes place along with some normal forms of speciation, and is a situation where no more living members of an ancestral species live, but the members of a daughter species or a subspecies do, in fact, survive. For instance, the Merychippus is extinct now, but is the ancestor of both the horse and the zebra. If members of the daughter species are crossbred to select for archaic traits, it is possible in some cases to get an individual that is very close to the pseudoextinct species.

Much of evolution is thought to occur through pseudoextinction, with a daughter species developing that is more adaptable than the earlier species. The older species may be maladaptive to new environmental demands, or the daughter species may squeeze it out in a competition for resouces.

Pseudoextinction is not limited to single species, but can refer instead to taxa larger than the species level. The superorder Dinosauria is thought to be pseudoextinct, not extinct, because the feathered dinosaurs may be the ancestors of modern birds. Some scientists today predict that genetically engineered humans may eventually lead to human pseudoextinction.

Pseudoextinction is also called phyletic extinction.

Web Resources On Pseudoextinction

Lecture on Pseudo Extinction (Very Large File)
Paleorama: Extinction

Book Resources On Pseudoextinction

Extinction : How Life on Earth Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago by Douglas H. Erwin
The Mistaken Extinction: Dinosaur Evolution and the Origin of Birds by Dingus & Rowe

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