Macroevolution is defined as the evolutionary process of higher taxa (above the species level). Macroevolutionary patterns include stasis (lack of evolutionary change over a long period), speciation (diversification), lineage character change (modification of major features/traits), and extinction (termination of a species or taxon). Moreover, background extinction refers to the extinction of individual taxon/species due to environmental factors (e.g., climate change, disease, habitat loss, competition, etc), which account for the majority of all extinctions. Conversely, mass extinction refers to the time period in which a major proportion of all known species (about three-quarters or even more of all species) living at the time goes extinct.
