An organism develops. Subparts continue to grow even as the whole declines. At some point, by degeneration or by accident, the organism ceases, looses its viability. There's a word for it: death.
Meantime, populations of such organisms, self-similar, able to reproduce, develop: develop and grow, decline. There's a word for them too: species. When species die, there's a word for that as well: extinction. Extinction is the death of all members. No more reproduction, no more such organisms.
Populations of species have names too: genus, family, class, phylum, kingdom: the old KPCFGS concept.
What do we call it when a genus dies? A family? How many genuses or families or classes have already died?
I don't know. But I think we should start thinking of names. I think we're going to start seeing a lot of it: whole symphonies of extinctions: meta-deaths, meta-extinctions.
Of course when I say "we," I'm speaking by extension beyond species, beyond genus ... I certainly don't mean the Homo sapiens will "see" it. I mean that life will see it.
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