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. 2015 Jun 19;1(5):e1400253. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1400253

Table 1. Numbers of species used in the Table 2 calculations of “highly conservative” and “conservative” modern extinction rates based on the IUCN Red List (17).

For the highly conservative rates, only species verified as “extinct” (EX) were included; for the conservative extinction rates, species in the categories “extinct in the wild” (EW) and “possibly extinct” (PE) were also included.

Vertebrate taxon No. of species, IUCN 2014.3
Highly conservative
rates (EX)
Conservative rates
(EX + EW + PE)
No. of species
evaluated by IUCN
Since 1500 Since 1900 Since 1500 Since 1900
Vertebrates 338 198 617 477 59% (39,223)
Mammals 77 35 111 69 100% (5,513)
Birds 140 57 163 80 100% (10,425)
Reptiles 21 8 37 24 44% (4,414)
Amphibians 34 32 148 146 88% (6,414)
Fishes 66 66 158 158 38% (12,457)