Question

Differentiate between extinct and endemic species. Give two examples of each.

Answer 1

As the name suggested, extinct are those species which are vanished or extinct from the earth. They exist in the past and now they are lost from the global. Whereas the endemic species are those species which are found only in a particular area.

Complete answer:
The Red List given by IUCN is intended to be an easily understood system of classifying species at high risk of global extinction. According to that, the species are divided into nine categories – data deficient, not evaluated, least concerned, near threatened, vulnerable, critically endangered, endangered, extinct and extinct in the wild.

Extinct species	Endemic species
Extinction of particular species or organisms occurs when there are no more individuals of that species found anywhere in the global. These species have died out or vanished. It is part of natural evolution. Extinction of one species also leads to the loss of another species which are interacting with it.	Endemism is the ecology state of the species. The endemic species are native to a particular geographical location or regions. Their numbers are not distributed throughout the world. They can be endemic to small or large areas, for example, some species found to be a part of the continent, while some can be part of Small Island. In India, almost 60% of these species are found in the Western Ghats and the Himalayas.
Examples – West African Black Rhino: After conservationists failed to find their last remaining habitat in Cameroon so they declared extinct in 2006. The main cause of their extinction is poachers hunting them for their horn.The passenger Pigeon: It was estimated that their numbers were in million when Europeans began to settle in America for the first time. The primary cause for their extinction is that humans hunted for their consumption.	Example –Asiatic lion: They are found in Gir forest national park of Gujarat. They are also called Indian lions. Nepenthes Khasiana- they are endemic to the Khasi hills of Meghalaya. They are the type of carnivorous plants or commonly known as pitcher plant.

Additional Information: Loss of habitat either by human destruction or natural event and draining and filling of inland and wetland leads to the fragmentation.
Pollution is also the main reason. For example, frog eggs, tadpoles and adult frogs are highly sensitive to certain pollutants such as pesticides.
Their population can also be affected by the introduction of non-active predators and competitors.
Diseases causing pathogen adversary in reducing the population of endemic species.
Over-hunting: When animals are over hunted for human need then species become extinct. For example fur and organs of tigers, the ivory of elephants, medicinal effect of shark’s fin. After some time these animals became extinct.

Note: How species become endemic- Various factor resultants into speciation, these factors are geographical restriction and environmental pressure. The environmental conditions that the species is exposed to, together with restrictions set by the geographical location of the species’ habitat, help determine the types of plants and animals that can thrive and spread to particular areas. For example, the Giant tortoises are found on the island of Ecuador. The island is surrounded by the seas which do not allow them to migrate to far islands. Hence their pollution becomes limited to the two remote groups of the tropical island of Ecuador.