Aug 13, 2015 12:43 PM EDT By Rashmi Kalia, UniversityHerald Reporter

A study in the journal Nature Communications says that populous species, such as humans, are just as likely to be wiped out in global mass extinctions as the rare species, International Business Times reports.

Widespread species are less likely to become extinct than rare species that occupy smaller geographical areas since their wide prevalence gives them an insurance against environmental changes. However, this insurance does not protect them when mass extinctions happen.

The team from the University of Leeds lead by Alex Dunhill and Matthew Wills studied the fossil record of terrestrial vertebrates from the Triassic and Jurassic periods.

The mass extinction that occurred around 200 million years ago and killed 80 percent of the species on earth at that time is believed to have been caused by volcanic eruptions and climate change.

Alex Dunhill and Matthew Wills studied how the organisms changed throughout the Triassic-Jurassic periods, which were then compared with biodiversity changes.

Dunhill said: "The fact that the insurance against extinction given by a wide geographic distribution disappears at a known mass extinction event is an important result. Many groups of crocodile-like animals become extinct after the mass extinction event at the end of the Triassic era, despite being really diverse and widespread beforehand. In contrast, the dinosaurs which were comparatively rare and not as widespread pass through the extinction event and go on to dominate terrestrial ecosystems for the next 150 million years."

Many scientists believe we are entering a sixth mass extinction. According to Stanford scientist Paul Ehrlich, the next mass extinction event is here "without any significant doubt".

According to IBT, Dunhill said, "These results shed light on the likely outcome of the current biodiversity crisis caused by human activity. It appears a human-driven sixth mass extinction will affect all organisms, not just currently endangered and geographically restricted species."

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