Editing Extinction

{{Status|Canon}}
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'''Extinction''' is a term regarding the disappearance, or dying out, of an entire species. Extinctions are a natural phenomenon that have occurred throughout the history of many worlds, often brought on by cataclysmic events. The greatest mass extinction in the [[Milky Way]] galaxy resulted from the [[Great Purification]] at the end of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], in which the activation of the [[Halo Array]] wiped out all [[sentient]] life within three radii of the galactic center. Various plants and [[animals]] have also gone extinct as a result of being unable to adapt to changing environments on their home planets. During the [[dark time]]s, a number of species that were reintroduced into their homeworlds by the Forerunners became extinct. Many other belligerent species in the [[Orion Arm]] region have been brought close to the brink of extinction as a result of [[War]], oftentimes when their civilizations enter an [[Technological Achievement Tiers|atomic age]] and employ the use of nuclear weaponry.<ref>'''[[Halo 3]]''', ''[[Bestiarum]]''</ref>

==Extinct alien civilizations==
*Around [[10,000,000 BCE]], the advanced [[Precursor]] race were [[Forerunner-Precursor war|driven to near extinction]] by their creations, the [[Forerunners]]. In the face of extinction, most of the Precursors reduce themselves to inert powder, intending to regenerate their forms later. However, this dust would deteriorate over eons, eventually bringing forth the parasitic [[Flood]]. Circa [[106,538 BCE]], a mysterious being known as the [[Primordial]] was discovered in stasis capsule by [[ancient humanity]]. When found by the forerunner Didact, the Primordial claimed to be the very last surviving Precursor. Prior to being disintegrated by the [[IsoDidact]] in [[97,445 BCE]], the Primordial revealed that more Precursors may have survived their war with the Forerunners.

*The Forerunner race reigned for millennia as the ascendant civilization in the galaxy until the activation of the Halo Array, their Pyrrhic solution to halt the Flood, in [[97,445 BCE]]. Although they themselves are essentially extinct, evidence of their existence remained, spread across the galaxy in the form of numerous creations, installations and artifacts. 

*In [[97,445 BCE]], monitor [[343 Guilty Spark]] learned a young alien civilization existed within a great dense cloud, possibly a star nursery. This alien race had gone unnoticed and unindexed by the [[Flood]] and the [[Forerunners]] at the time of the firing of the [[Halo Array]]. Having not been included in the [[Lifeworker]]'s Conservation Measure, the species became permanently extinct when the Halo pulse killed all life in the galaxy. Nothing was known about them or their history, other than that their first and very last signals to the stars were calls for attention.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 329''</ref> 

*Many centuries prior to the twenty-sixth century, a civilization existed on the planet [[Netherop]] in the [[Ephyra system]]. It ultimately died off before achieving spaceflight due to excessive heat created by [[Wikipedia:Greenhouse effect|greenhouse gasses]].<ref name="HSS1">''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'', ''Chapter 1''</ref><ref name="TD">[[Troy Denning]] on Twitter [https://twitter.com/TDenningauthor/status/1038654237453049862]</ref>

*Prior to [[860 BCE]], an unknown bipedal species that inhabited the [[Planet of Blue and Red]] had gone extinct. This alien civilization had left behind carvings in their stone cities which exhibited their knowledge of the Forerunners. Because their planet harbored ancient Forerunner technology, both the [[San'Shyuum]] and [[Sangheili]] race saw their ruined world as a strategic location during the [[War of Beginnings]].<ref>'''Halo: Broken Circle''', ''Page 3''</ref>
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==Near-extinctions (Endangered species)==
*When the [[Great Purification]] occurred, ending the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], a small minority of [[Forerunners]] fled the [[Milky Way Galaxy]] leaving their species nearly extinct at the time.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 314''</ref> The vast majority of their species died when the [[Halo Array]] fired as planned.<ref>Halo 2 "They and all additional sentient life in three radii of the galactic center, died, as planned.", 343 Guilty Spark</ref>

*By [[850 BCE]], [[thremaleon]], a species of lizard from the Sangheili homeworld [[Sanghelios]], was nearly extinct.<ref>'''[[Halo: Broken Circle]]''', ''page 100''</ref>

*Prior to their incorporation into the Covenant, the [[Jiralhanae]] race was almost brought to extinction due to a decade-long civil war known as the [[First Immolation]]. The war between the [[Rh'tol]] and [[Vheiloth]] skeins had plunged their homeworld, [[Doisac]], into a nuclear holocaust that drove the species back several hundred years in science and machinery.<ref>[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/species/jiralhanae '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Jiralhanae'']</ref>

*Between [[2525]] and [[2552]], the [[Covenant]] conducted a [[Human-Covenant War|period of genocide]] against [[humanity]] due to the discovery that they were set to inherit the Forerunner's technology.<ref name="CH">'''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''', ''Chapter Sixteen''</ref> Although their efforts resulted in the destruction of hundreds of colonies and billions of human lives, they would ultimately fail.<ref name="H3">'''[[Halo 3]]'''</ref> By [[2553]] humanity had already begun a strong recovery and would emerge as a superpower in the known regions of the [[Orion Arm]] by [[2557]].<ref>'''Halo 4''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SAs1V1NDwA "For too many years, humanity was on the backfront, reacting to threats rather than preventing them. The rest of the galaxy was bigger than us, stronger than us. We were mice, hiding in the shadows, hoping the giants would not see us. No more. Humanity is no longer on the defence. We are the giants now."]''',</ref>

*The [[Fall of Reach|fall of the planet Reach]] in [[2552]]  brought [[moa]] numbers to near-extinction levels. However, moa still survive on Reach in remote sectors of the planet that were not glassed by the Covenant. Additionally, the entrepreneur [[Wiljax Brantley]] had received a shipment of moa from Reach prior to the attack. His [[Have S'Moa]] restaurant and petting zoo on [[Gannick 22]] is now home to the largest single population of remaining moa in the galaxy.<ref>[http://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-have-s-moa '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Canon Fodder: Have S'moa]</ref>

*After the [[Fall of High Charity]], the [[San'Shyuum]] population became dangerously low. In fear of being hunted by vengeful Sangheili, the survivors had gone into hiding. They are now an endangered species.<ref name="TR">'''[[Halo: Evolutions]]''', "[[The Return]]", ''page 328''</ref>

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==Sources== 
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[[Category:Biology]]
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