Difference between 絶滅, 消滅 and 滅ぶ


My vocabulary textbook lists the three following words:

> 滅び行く種族
>
> _Endangered species_
>
> 種族の絶滅
>
> _The extinction of species_
>
> 消滅した種族
>
> _Extinguished species_

(Hope the English translations are correct idioms, my textbook is in French)

By extrapolating from these words, I can guess that 滅ぶ, 絶滅する and 消滅する all bear
more or less the same meaning.

What's the difference between these three verbs, and which are the most
commonly used? I expect 滅ぶ to be less common since 漢語 tend to be more used in
"technical" contexts, how about it?




  * 絶滅: "extinction (of species)"; a kango technical term used only in _biological_ contexts
  * 消滅: "disappearance", "vanishing"; a kango used with various subjects in various technical/legal/academic contexts

>     * 賠償を請求する権利が消滅した。
>     * 台風は上陸する前に消滅した。

When someone says 消滅した種族, I would say it probably refers to a vanished
(ethnic) _tribe_ , because 絶滅 is the normal term in biological contexts. Note
that 種族 has two meanings from the English perspective (species vs ethnic
group).

  * 滅ぶ: "(for a country, civilization, tribe, etc) to perish/fall"; As you have suspected, it's not preferred in academic contexts, but it has its own literary (or poetic) merit. 

>     * 地球は核戦争によって滅ぶだろう。
>     * 東ローマ帝国は15世紀に滅んだ。
>     * 滅びの美学 "aesthetics/dignity of the dying/perishing", something you may
> find in a tragedy

