Extinction OLD PAGE

Zoo Atlanta Director of Research and Herpetologist Dr. Joe Mendelson will join us to guest lecture on extinction and its impacts on those left behind. Please read the New York Times Op Ed on the recent extinction of an endangered frog and the Herpetological Review article on Canvas (we’ll email the articles out before class).

Learning Objectives

  1. Know that extinction is a natural process of the birth and death of species here on earth.
  2. Explain why the definitive statement that a species is now extinct is problematic, and discuss the validity of using the term “extinction,” when a species is technically not extinct.
  3. Consider and weigh the ethics of extinction from the perspective that all species have intrinsic values that extend beyond their utility to humans, and so deserve to be managed and conserved.
  4. Examine your own valuation of living organisms: are a cockroach and a giant panda of equivalent value to survive and thrive? should they be? why or why not?