Given below are two statements:
Statement I: Of the 784 species whose extinction in the last 500 years is documented in the IUCN Red List (2004), plants form the largest group.
Statement II: Three subspecies of tiger - Bali, Javan and Caspian - are among the examples of recent extinctions.
In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Statement I is false but Statement II is true
The IUCN Red List (2004) records the species that have become extinct in the last 500 years. The 784 species in it are counted under three groups: vertebrates, invertebrates and plants.
Statement I: Of the 784 species whose extinction in the last 500 years is documented in the IUCN Red List (2004), plants form the largest group. — False. Plants, with 87 species, are the smallest group in this list. The largest group is the invertebrates (359), followed by the vertebrates (338).
Statement II: Three subspecies of tiger - Bali, Javan and Caspian - are among the examples of recent extinctions. — True. NCERT lists them with the dodo, quagga, thylacine and Steller’s Sea Cow as recent extinctions.
NCERT Extract:
Loss of Biodiversity – “… The colonisation of tropical Pacific Islands by humans is said to have led to the extinction of more than 2,000 species of native birds. The IUCN Red List (2004) documents the extinction of 784 species (including 338 vertebrates, 359 invertebrates and 87 plants) in the last 500 years. Some examples of recent extinctions include the dodo (Mauritius), quagga (Africa), thylacine (Australia), Steller’s Sea Cow (Russia) and three subspecies (Bali, Javan, Caspian) of tiger.”