Extinction is the death of all members of a species of plants, animals, or other organisms. One of the most dramatic examples of a modern extinction is the passenger pigeon. Until the early 1800s, billions of passenger pigeons darkened the skies of the United States in spectacular migratory flocks. Easy to trap or shoot, passenger pigeons became a popular, cheap food. Commercial hunters killed them in vast numbers, eventually decimating the population. The last , named Martha, died in the Cincinnati Zoological Garden in 1914, and was donated to the Smithsonian Institution., Extinction Rates. Recent studies estimate about eight million species on Earth, of which at least 15,000 are threatened with extinction. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact extinction rate because many endangered species have not been identified or studied yet. A number of scientists grapple with improving methods for estimating extinction rates., Effects of Reason Reason 10 9 8 7 6 Penalties None 1 to all Social Skill rolls* 1 to resist the effects of a derangement 1 to avoid gaining a derangement Increase the above penalties to 2, reduce any bonus gained by spending a point of Willpower by one (+3 dice to a roll becomes +2, the +2 bonus to Resistance becomes +1, etc.) Reduce one Social .