The Sixth Extinction An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert ( PDFDrive.com )

extinctions at end of (Cretaceous-Tertiary, K-T, extinction)
crocodiles
crow, Hawaiian
Cruise, Tom
Crump, Paul
Crutzen, Paul
Cruz, Rudi
curlews
Cuvier, Georges (Jean-Léopold-Nicolas-Frédéric). See also catastrophism
DAISIE (database of invasives in Europe)
dandelions
Danish Royal Museum
Darling, Scott
Darwin, Charles

coral reefs and
geographical distribution and
Darwin’s paradox
Daubenton, Louis-Jean-Marie
DDT
debt-for-nature swap
deer, white-tailed
deforestation
De la Beche, Henry
Denisovans
Descent of Man, The (Darwin)
Devonian period
extinction at end of
Diamond, Jared
Dibble, Harold
dinosaurs
diprotodons
Diprotodon optatum
DK-13 coral patch
DNA
Dob’s Linn
dodo
dogs, domesticated

Dohrn, Anton
dove, Mariana fruit-
Durrant, Barbara
dynamite fishing
eagles

bald
Haast’s
Easter Island
echinoderms
Ecological Society of America
Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants, The (Elton)
Egyptians, ancient
mummified cat
Ehrlich, Paul
Eldey Island
elephant birds
elephants
African
Asian
dwarf
elk
Ellis, Erle
Elton, Charles
El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center (EVACC)
emerald ash borer
ENACO (Peruvian government agency)
Enantiornithine birds
Encyclopedia of Biological Invasions
endangered species. See also specific species
attempts to save
big mammals as
captive breeding and
extinct in wild
great apes as
loss of rainforests and
Endangered Species Act (1974)
enemy release

Enewetak atoll
Eocene epoch
EPOCA (European Project on Ocean Acidification)
Erwin, Terry
Eschscholtz, Johann Friedrich von
Essay on Man (Pope)
evolution

abrupt change in rules and
humans and
Neanderthals and
tropics and
evolutionary clock
extinction. See also Big Five: mass extinctions; Sixth Extinction; and specific geologic periods and
species
background rate of
cataclysms and
climate change and
coral reefs and threat of
Cuvier and discovery of
Darwin and
human ability to change course of
humans as cause of
Lyell on slow pace of
megafauna and
paradigm shift on
rareness of, in ordinary times
rate of current
Signor-Lipps effect and
extinction debt
Farfan Rios, William
feedback cycle
Feeley, Kenneth
ferns
Glossopteris fossils
tree (Cyathea multisegmenta)
fern spike
fish

Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef, The
FISNA (Forest Invasive Species Network for Africa)
FitzRoy, Robert
Flannery, Tim
flycatcher

Guam
white-cheeked tody
foraminifera (“forams”)
Abathomphalus mayaroenisis
forests. See also deforestation; rainforests
boreal
fragmentation of
Forster, Johann Reinhold
Fortey, Richard
fossil fuels
fossils (fossil record)
abrupt vs. protracted extinctions and
extinctions mapped by
geological eras and
Lyell and
mass extinctions and
fragmentation. See also islands
French Royal Academy of Sciences
frogs
big-headed robber
blue-bellied poison
blue poison-dart
casque-headed
Chile Darwin’s
glass
horned marsupial
La Loma robber
lemur tree
Manaus slender-legged tree
North American bullfrog
Panamanian golden (Atelopus zeteki)
Panamanian robber

Pristimantis
Rabbs' fringe-limbed tree
Sandhill
San Jose Cochran
southern day
spring peepers
Warzewitsch
wood
Frozen Zoo
Fuhlrott, Johann Carl
fungi
American chestnut and
bat die-off and
frog die-off and
Funk Island (formerly Isle of Birds)
Galápagos
gannets
Garb, Matt
garlic mustard
Geobios
geographic distribution (dispersal of species)
Geological Society of America
Geological Society of London
geologic epochs, eras, and periods, defined. See also specific epochs, eras, and periods
Geomyces destructans
glaciation (ice ages)
megafauna extinction and
survivors of
temperature swings during
glaciers, disappearance of
gleaner, olive-backed foliage
global trade and travel
global warming. See climate change
glyptodonts
gomphotheres
Gondwana
gorillas

Graham, Russell
graptolites

Adelograptus divergens
Dicranograptus ziczac
grasses, invasive
grasslands
great auk (Pinguinus impennis)
Great Barrier Reef
Green, Ed
Griffith, Edgardo
Grotte des Combarelles
Guam
Gubbio limestone
Guettard, Jean-Étienne
guillemots
Gulf of Mexico sediment cores
Guðmundsson, Guðmundur
hadrosaurs
Hallam, Anthony
Hall-Spencer, Jason
Hamish, Cyclone
Hawaii
H-bomb tests
Hepting, George
Heron Island
Hesperornithine birds
Hicks, Al
Himalayas
hippopotamus
pygmy
History of Animals (Aristotle)
hobbits (Homo floresiensis)
Hoegh-Guldberg, Ove
Holdaway, Richard
Holocene epoch
Homo erectus
Homo heidelbergensis

honeybees
honeycreeper

black-faced Hawaiian po`ouli
red-legged
Hönisch, Bärbel
Houck, Marlys
Houston Zoo
Howe Caverns
humans (Homo sapiens)
ability of, to change world
demise of earlier humans and
demise of great apes and
dependence of, on earth’s systems
distinguishing characteristics of
evolution of
extinction caused by
extinction of megafauna and
fossil record left by
impact of, on biosphere
invasive species and
migrations of
Neanderthals and
population growth
success of
threat to survival of
Humboldt, Alexander von
Hunter, William
Iapetus
IBIS (Island Biodiversity and Invasive Species Database)
ice caps
Iceland
ichthyosaur
iguanodon
Ilex genus
impact hypothesis
index fossils
insects

Institute for Conservation Research
International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS)
invasive or introduced species

enemy release and
establishment of
fragmentation and
irruption of
invertebrate extinction rates
iridium layer
Ischia island
islands
Iselfsson, Sigurður
Jablonski, David
jaguars
Jarrell, Randall
Jefferson, Thomas
jellyfish
Johnson, Chris
Journal of Soils and Sediments
Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society
Journey to the Center of the Earth, A (Verne)
Jurassic Park
Jurassic period
kangaroo, giant short-faced
keel worm (Pomatoceros triqueter)
Kennedy, John F.
Ketilsson, Ketil
Kinsey, Donald
K-T boundary. See Cretaceous period, extinctions at end of
Kuhn, Thomas
Kump, Lee
La Chapelle-aux-Saints Neanderthal
La Ferrassie Neanderthals
Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste
Landman, Neil
land surface, transformation of
Langdon, Chris

Last Glacial Maximum
latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG)
Lawson, Nicholas
lead poisoning
Leakey, Richard
leaky-replacement hypothesis
Leipzig Zoo
lemurs, giant
Lewis, Meriwether
lianas
life, history of

Cuvier
direction in
Ordovician and
Sixth Extinction and
Lilliput effect
limpets
Patella caerulea
Linnaeus, Carl
Longueuil, Charles Le Moyne, second Baron de
loosestrife, purple
Lopez, Barry
Los Angeles Zoo
Louis XV, King of France
Lovejoy, Tom
Luehea seemannii
Lyell, Charles
Lynch’s Crater
Maastricht animal. See mosasaur
MacArthur, Robert
Madagascar
mammals
background extinction rate and
endangered
K-T extinction and
native to Guam
number of species

mammoths
manakins, white-crowned
Manrique, Héctor Marín
Manú National Park
Maori
marine food chains
marine fossil record
marine life

acidification and
coral reef decline and
K-T extinction and
Ordovician extinction and
Permian extinction and
marsupials
Martin, Paul
mass extinctions. See also Big Five extinctions; Sixth Extinction; and specific periods and species
causes of
defined
fossil record and
impact of
lesser events and
ocean chemistry and
rate of change and
unified theory of
uniformitarians vs. catastrophists and
mastodons
American (Mammut americanum)
Max Plack Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
McPherron, Shannon
megafauna
megaherbivores
Megatherium
melastome
Mendelson, Joseph
mesocosms
Mesosaurus
Mesozoic era

Mesquita, Rita
methane
microbial communities
Millar, Ian
Miocene epoch
moas
mollusks
monkeys

black spider
brown capuchin
howler
woolly
mosasaur (Maastricht animal)
mosses
Muir, John
multiflora rose
Museum of Natural History (Paris)
mussels
Mytilus galloprovincialis
zebra
Napoleon
National Geographic
National Institute of Amazonian Research
National Wildlife Federation
Native Americans
Natural History Museum of London
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
Natural History (Pliny)
natural selection
Nature
Nature Conservancy
nautiluses
Neanderthals
Nemesis Affair
NEMESIS (National Exotic Marine and Estuarine Species Information System)
neocatastrophism
Neogene period

New England
New Pangaea
Newsweek
Newton, Alfred
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
New York Times
New Zealand
nitrogen
Noah’s Ark mollusk (Arca noae)
noddies, black
Notes on the State of Virginia (Jefferson)
nuclear winter
ocean acidification

coral reefs and
marine life and
rate of
Oceanography
oceans. See also sea level; sea temperature
atmosphere and
dispersal of species and
sulfate-reducing bacteria and
tropical
octopuses
One Tree Island Research Station
On the Origin of Species (Darwin)
orangutans
Sumatran
orchids
Ordovician period
extinction at end of
Ordovician radiation
overkill hypothesis
oystercatchers
oysters
ozone hole
Pääbo, Svante
Paleogene period

paleogenetics
Paleozoic era
palms
Panama
pandas
Pangaea
Papua New Guinea
paradigm shifts
parakeets, golden-winged
parrots, green
pathogens
Pauly, Daniel
Peale, Charles Willson
peccaries
penguins
peppershrike, rufous-browed
Permian period

extinction at end of
Phillips, John
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B
photosynthesis
pH scale. See also ocean acidification
picoplankton
pigeon, plumbeous
piha, screaming
plankton
plantains, broadleaf (Plantago major)
plants

global warming and
invasive
K-T extinctions and
Ordovician
plate tectonics
Pleistocene epoch
extinctions at end of
plesiosaur
Pliny the Edler

plovers
poaching
poinsettia
polychaete worms
Polynesians
Pope, Alexander
population size
potoo bird family
preservation potential
Principles of Geology (Lyell)
proboscideans
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
psychrophile fungus
pterobranchs
pterodactyls
pteropods

sea butterfly (Limacina helicina)
pterosaurs
puffins
Quammen, David
Quarternary period
Queen Anne’s lace
rabbits
Raben, Count Frederick Christian
rail, Guam
rainforests

biodiversity of
fragmentation of
frog die-offs in
global warming and
Ramankutty, Navin
rats
Barbara Brown’s brush-tailed
Norway (Rattus norvegicus)
Pacific (Rattus exulans)
Raup, David
razorbills

Recherches sur les ossemons fossiles (Cuvier)
recolonization
reefs, ancient. See also coral reefs
Reich, David
Reinhart, Paul
relaxation
reproductive rate
reptiles, endangered
Reserve 1202
Rettenmeyer, Carl
Rettenmeyer, Marian
Revkin, Andrew
Reykjanes Peninsula
rhinoceros

black
Indian
Javan
Sumatran (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis)
white
woolly
Ricciardi, Anthony
Ridgwell, Andy
Riebesell, Ulf
Río Luján skeleton
river diversion
Roth, Terri
Rudwick, Martin
Sagan, Carl
salamanders
giant
Saltasaurus genus
Samways, Michael
Sandgathe, Dennis
San Diego Zoo
Sarpa salpa
saturation state
Saurolophus genus

Schefflera genus
Schell, Jonathan
Schneider, Kenny
Science
Scientific American
seabirds
sea cucumbers
sea floor vents
seagrass
sea level
sea scorpions, giant
sea slugs
sea snails (Jujubinus striatus)
sea temperatures
sea turtles, loggerhead
sea urchins

Arbacia lixula
seaweed

Amphiroa rigida
Corallina elongata
Corallina officinalis
Halimeda tuna
Sepkoski, Jack
Shanidar I “Nandy”
Shanidar (Solicki)
sharks
leopard
shocked quartz
Shujing
Siberian Traps
Signor-Lipps effect
Silent Spring (Carson)
Silman, Miles
Silurian period
Silva, Isabella Premoli
Simpson, George Gaylord
Sixth Extinction. See also extinction; mass extinction; and specific species

amphibian die-offs and
Big Five vs.
humans as cause and victim of
potential magnitude of
rats and
skink, curious
sloths
giant ground (Megalonyx jeffersonii)
Smith, Ryan
Smith, Sir Grafton Elliot
snails
giant African (Achatina fulica)
Hawaii and
rosy wolf- (Euglandina rosea)
Silinus turbinatus
worm (Serpulorbis arenarius)
snake
brown tree (Boiga irregularis)
Solecki, Ralph
Soulé, Michael
sparrows, house
specialization
speciation
species-area relationship (SAR)
sponges
Agelas oroides
Sporormiella
starfish
starlings
Steller’s sea cow
Stevns Klint sediments
stick bug
storks, wood
stratigraphy
Straus, William
Stringer, Chris
stromatoporoids (“stroms”)

Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs, The (Darwin)
Structure of Scientific Revolutions, The (Kuhn)
Suci (Sumatran rhino)
Sveinsson, Reynir
swallows, barn
Systema Naturae (Linnaeus)
tanagers
Tassy, Pascal
Taylor, Paul
terns
Tertiary period. See also Paleogene period
Therizinosaurus genus
thermal range
Thomas, Aaron
Thomas, Chris
Thylacoleo carnifex
tigers
Time
tityra, black-tailed
toads

cane
golden
Jambato
Rhinella manu
Toarcian Turnover
Tomasello, Michael
tortoise, Charles Island (Chelonoidis elephantopus)
Toxodon genus
trees
in cold vs. tropical climates
diversity of, in rainforest
ecosystem structured by
migration rates and
T. Rex and the Crater of Doom (Alvarez)
Triassic period
extinction at end of
triceratops

trilobites
trogons
Tyrannosaurus rex
Ungava Peninsula
uniformitarianism
United Nations Environment Programme
U.S. Congress
U.S. Department of Energy
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Van Driesche, Roy
Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department
Verne, Jules
Veron, J. E. N.
volcanic eruptions
von Oettingen, Susi
Vredenburg, Vance
Wake, David
Wallace, Alfred Russel
Ward, Selina
Way Kambas National Park
weevil

loosestrife flower
loosestrife root
Wegener, Alfred
West Nile virus
Whewell, William
Whitbourne, Richard
white-band disease
white-nose syndrome
Wignall, Paul
wildlife reserves
Williams, Moses
Wilson, E. O.
Wolley, John
woodcreeper, long-tailed
woodpecker, yellow-tufted
World of Life, The (Wallace)

worms
burrowing
earthworms

Yosemite National Park
Yucatán Peninsula
Zalasiewicz, Jan
Zimmer, Carl
zoos
zooxanthellae

*A useful mnemonic for remembering the geologic periods of the last half-billion years is:
Camels Often Si t Do w n Carefully, Perhaps Their Joints Creak (Cambrian-Ordovician-Silurian-
Devonian-Carboniferous-Permian-Triassic-Jurassic-Cretaceous). The mnemonic unfortunately
runs out before the most recent periods: the Paleogene, the Neogene, and the current Quaternary.

*The pH scale runs from zero to fourteen. Seven is neutral; anything above that is basic and
below it acidic. Seawater is naturally basic, so as the pH falls the process usually referred to as
ocean acidification could, less catchily, be called a decline in ocean alkalinity.

*It’s important to note that z is always less than 1—usually somewhere between .20 and .35.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ELIZABETH KOLBERT is a staff writer at the New Yorker. She is the author of

Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change. She lives in
Williamstown, Massachusetts, with her husband and children.

ALSO BY ELIZABETH KOLBERT

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Man, Nature, and Climate Change

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