A study says the earth is in the midst of the initial period of a mass extinction, the sixth in world history.

It noted that some species are declining due to human activity and increasing human populations. Researchers call the mass extinction "anthropocene defaunation," or a drop in the numbers of animal species due to man and his activities.

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Ben Collen of University College London, one of the authors of the study, said the research team was shocked to discover that invertebrates and larger animals are experiencing similar losses in numbers to that experienced by smaller animals. His team had previously thought invertebrates were resilient.  

Despite larger mammals such as pandas, rhinos, elephants and tigers getting more attention, even the loss of tiny species deeply impacts ecosystems.

Over the last 500 years, 322 species have become extinct.

According to Rodolfo Dirzo of Stanford University, lead author of the study, "We live amid a global wave of anthropogenically driven biodiversity loss."

Two of the well-known mass extinctions include an asteroid believed to have killed-off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. There's also an event with an unknown cause called the "Great Dying" that resulted in the death of 90 percent of the Earth's species 252 million years ago.

Dirzo and his team said it's not too late to prevent the sixth mass extinction, but human beings need to take drastic measures to avoid the devastation.

Tagsextinction, mass, animal extinction, endangered animals