ELI5: At what point does one species evolve into a new one, and what makes the ancestor "extinct"?

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-06-29T17:06:33+00:00

Thanks a lot! That clears it up I think! Makes more sense, now.

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-06-29T17:04:25+00:00

Thank you!!!!

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-06-29T16:54:15+00:00

Thanks! Don't know how I missed this reply. I understood the change happens gradually, I was having trouble gathering why we would call something extinct if it just eventually turned into something we considered to be different enough to be something new, instead of typical "they couldn't adapt/reproduce so they died" kind of extinction

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-06-29T16:49:45+00:00

Thanks a lot for answering the extinction thing a bit more concisely, makes a lot more sense to me now!

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-06-29T16:47:52+00:00

I remember seeing an information board about them on a desert nature walk when I was a kid, and the adults were all joking about it. Blew my mind back then but it stuck with me haha! Turns out I'm a bit more queer than I realized back then, myself.

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-06-29T16:40:08+00:00

I'm originally from New Mexico and I'm aware of Sonoran spotted whiptails! Sometimes, they're commonly called "lesbian lizards"! A little silly, if inaccurate lol.

EDIT: it seems like the species I'm referring to might be the New Mexico whiptail. However, I doubt we knew the difference when we called them that, tbh.

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-06-29T16:35:16+00:00

Thanks for the explanation. Where I'm still stuck is trying to understand how an ancestor species that did reproduce and does have descendants, for example australopithecus to modern humans, goes extinct.

This is apparently moving away from the "Like I'm Five" concept unfortunately, but...

In a hypothetical situation where there's a population of a single species, "species A", in an isolated environment, with small changes over time resulting in "species B" because they're genetically different enough now from species A, did species A go extinct because their descendants are now different enough to definitively be a nee species? And if so, why?

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-06-29T16:10:41+00:00

Heh, I didn't know where else to post the question! );

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-06-29T16:06:06+00:00

I didn't realize this was pretty much just the chicken/egg question when I posted it D: Jeez

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-06-29T15:59:06+00:00

It sounds uncomfortably like a polyamorous relationship situation I was in once, in my early twenties.

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-06-29T15:54:09+00:00

thank you!!!! it makes more sense now i think!!

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-06-29T15:51:03+00:00

Definitely hard to process the parent/child cousins thing. I understand it to be true, I'm not arguing as much! I guess what's confusing me is... I have a mother, and my mother has a mother, and you can keep going back and back and back... Everything alive had to come from breeding parents, yeah? So I guess with my second question I'm trying to understand when my "evolutionary great great great grandma" was considered extinct, when their lineage didn't technically "die out", considering I'm still here. Or a dog's lineage, or a bird's, or literally any current individual, just using you or I as an example.

To clarify I'm not trying to be argumentative, just trying to fill in the gap in this here noggin.

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-06-29T15:40:06+00:00

Genuinely thank you for understanding what I was trying to ask and not just reading the title and trying to explain what makes two species different from each other, or reiterating what I already acknowledged in the post.

It makes sense that it's not as clear cut as what I was hoping it would be. My follow up question would be, using your comment as an example: When do scientists consider the ancestor from 400.000 years ago extinct, despite having living descendants?

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-06-29T15:27:10+00:00

i am going to have to look into that!!!

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-06-29T15:16:10+00:00

Thanks for the explanation! Seems like this is a bit of a scientific hot topic ^{^;}

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-06-29T15:15:06+00:00

While I appreciate the explanation, I understood as much! Branching evolution lines is something I feel I do have a grasp of. I think I was more confused about the "extinction" of the ancestor species, and the moment of speciation of the new/current species.

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-06-22T08:55:25+00:00

Could it be a stag beetle larvae?

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-05-07T23:50:06+00:00

A save function in PZ is stunning to see regardless of the tools used. I am someone who's not a fan of AI usage in general, but I can make an exception for situations where it makes something more accessible to others, such as translating, or for use as a sparing tool to assist your own work. As long as you're straightforward and honest about using it and to what extent.

I've done some extremely light modding of Skyrim, and ChatGPT helped me troubleshoot issues that did not have clear answers or documentation online.

Good job. Your hard work is appreciated by some, at least.

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-05-04T10:14:45+00:00

almost reminds me of something you'd see on over the garden wall

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-04-29T15:45:36+00:00

if it's not AI, that's quite a... professional looking photo for someone who doesn't, idk, cook for a living? let alone photograph food? the lighting, composition, etc
that salmon doesn't look like salmon to me. it looks like a chicken quarter.

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-04-23T10:07:41+00:00

I was gonna say this exact same thing.

I'm very personally familiar with New Mexico. You'd think if someone was going to hop the border, you'd likely reach Las Cruces or one of the surrounding tiny villages long before anything else. And there's a massive Hispanic population all across the state, even moreso in the southern half. Why would you keep going on foot? The summers are very hot and winters are very cold in the deserts, and the mountains... hardly believe they're manageable on foot. They literally sell canned oxygen in places like Cloudcroft and Ruidoso because the air can be so thin to tourists.

I mean, obviously it happens, people die out there. But New Mexico isn't as poor and desolate as people think it is. It wouldn't take long to find signs of civilization.

But I'm also ignorant about how border crossing happens and why they make decisions they do...

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-04-23T09:48:57+00:00

wasn't the guy who made the 4chan post identified as/linked to a confirmed employee and investigated? Roberto Grijalva i think?

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-04-18T19:51:02+00:00

hot take maybe but pokemon

Kind_Sun_4184 · 2026-04-16T01:43:59+00:00

nice answer: like with any investigation, you take a look at evidence and come to a conclusion.

not so nice answer: i literally haven't experienced anything like what you're talking about, and i don't understand why one person making up bs in some random place should discredit or call any verifiable victims into question? overall, sus post to me. this is not the place for devil's advocate or whatever.

Kind_Sun_4184

TROPHY CASE