Answer B. In the pas, mass extinctions encouraged the rapid evolution of surviving species by making new habitats available to them. These habitats were now open because the organisms that had previously occupied them had died during the mass extinction.

Is extinction important to evolution?

By making room for new species, extinction helps drive the evolution of life. Over long periods of time, the number of species becoming extinct can remain fairly constant, meaning that an average number of species go extinct each year, century, or millennium.

Do mass extinctions encourage or discourage evolution?

Extinction events impact the trajectory of biological evolution significantly. They are often viewed as upheavals to the evolutionary process. ... The conclusion is that although they are destructive in the short term, extinction events may make evolution more prolific in the long term.