Rutiodon ("Wrinkle tooth") is an extinct genus of archosaur belonging to the family Phytosauridae. It lived during the Late Triassic period, and was about 10 to 25 feet (3 to 8 meters) in length.
Evolution is regarded as a branching process, whereby populations are altered over time and may speciate into separate branches, hybridize together, or terminate by extinction.
Last December scientists announced the probable extinction of the first mammal because of climate change: the white lemuroid possum, now gone from Queensland, Australia.
It tends to ignore, and thus eventually to eliminate, many elements in the land community that lack commercial value, but that are essential to its healthy functioning.
But in the last century, populations of the endangered African penguin have plummeted, due in part to human disturbance, egg poaching and climate change.