Species Extinction - Page 4 of 7 - Recently Extinct Animals (since the 15th century)

biorepository on the moon to save endangered species

Scientists propose sending threatened species to the moon to save them from extinction. (© TheLostProbe (Screenshot) & John Van Vilet (Virtual Textures), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-08-04 Doreen Fräßdorf

The Preservation of Biodiversity: A Lunar Biorepository

Could the Moon soon serve as a storage site for frozen biological samples of endangered species? In a recently published paper in the journal BioScience, researchers from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute present a futuristic idea: the establishment of a biorepository on the Moon. The scientists aim

A Barbary lion in Algeria, photographed by Sir Alfred Edward Pease in 1893. The particularly dense, dark mane was notable, but it does not provide significant insights into the species. It may instead represent an adaptation to climatic conditions. (© Alfred Edward Pease (29 June 1857 – 27 April 1939), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-07-30 Doreen Fräßdorf

Barbary Lion

The cultural significance of North African lions Lions played a role in early Egyptian art and literature. Archaeologists discovered statues and statuettes of lions from Egypt’s Early Dynastic Period (3100 to 2686 BC) in Hierakonpolis, the religious and political center of Upper Egypt, and in the ancient Egyptian city of

This is what the Atlas bear might have looked like. (© Nicolas Maréchal, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-07-29 Doreen Fräßdorf

Atlas Bear

The Atlas bear was part of animal hunts in the Roman Empire The Atlas bear is believed to have lived in the North African Atlas Mountains and the adjacent regions of Libya, Algeria, and Morocco. There are no photos, scientific illustrations, museum specimens, or complete skeletons of the Atlas bear.

New Zealand's unique birdlife evolved in isolation over millions of years. This late 19th-century illustration depicts a hunting scene involving moas. (© Joseph Smit, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-07-29 Doreen Fräßdorf

In the Footsteps of Moas: Where New Zealand’s Flightless Birds Find Refuge

The settlement of the Pacific Islands by humans led to rapid waves of extinction for many animal species, whose dynamics are difficult to reconstruct. Among the affected species were the wingless moas, which were only found in New Zealand. These often massive birds went extinct in the 14th or 15th

Illustration of the Cape Verde Giant Skink by J. Terrier from 1885. Males could reach a body length of around 50 centimeters, and females around 43 centimeters (including the tail). The weight of the animals was almost half a kilogram. (© J. Terrier, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-07-25 Doreen Fräßdorf

Cape Verde Giant Skink

Ilhas Desertas – The terra typica of the Cape Verde giant skink Organisms that occur in isolated ecosystems such as islands are often adapted to the extreme conditions prevailing there. They exhibit characteristics such as dwarfism or gigantism and often lack defensive mechanisms due to the absence of predators, setting

tongan ground skink (Tachygyia microlepis)

The Tongan ground skink is known from only two specimens that were collected on Tongatapu in the early 19th century. The species reached a snout-to-vent length of nearly 18 centimeters, plus the tail. (© Journal, German & Ineich, Ivan & Böhme, Wolfgang. (2024). Was it premature to declare the giant Tongan Ground Skink Tachygyia microlepis extinct?. Salamandra. 60. 82-93.)

2024-07-24 Doreen Fräßdorf

Tongan Ground Skink

From the South Pacific to the museum – The last Tongan ground skinks The Tongan ground skink, a giant lizard, is known only from two specimens that are now housed in the Natural History Museum of Paris. The French doctors and naturalists Jean-René-Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard collected the

Remains of the Tasmanian tiger, which was hunted to extinction in the early 20th century. (© Doreen Fräßdorf, photographed at the UCL Grant Museum of Zoology in London, England, 2024)

2024-07-23 Doreen Fräßdorf

Extinctions: How Many Animal Species Have We Already Wiped Out?

There have been five mass extinction events in the history of Earth’s biodiversity, all caused by natural phenomena. It is believed that the sixth mass extinction is currently underway, this time solely driven by human activities. The Thylacine, the aurochs, and the dodo are just a few of the most

An expedition to the Makira Forest in Madagascar has rediscovered the millipede Spirostreptus sculptus, which had been lost for over 125 years. (© Dmitry Telnov)

2024-07-20 Doreen Fräßdorf

Madagascar: Expedition Rediscovers 21 Lost Species in the Makira Forest

A scientific expedition to the Makira Forest, the largest and best-preserved forest area in Madagascar, has rediscovered 21 species long lost to science. Among the rediscovered species are three iridescent, nearly transparent fish species and a millipede last documented 126 years ago. The expedition was part of the Search for

Pink-headed ducks reach a length of around 60 centimeters. The males (front) have a dark pink head and neck, chocolate-brown plumage, and a crest on their heads. The females (back) and juveniles are generally somewhat paler overall. (© Henrik Grönvold (1858–1940), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-07-19 Doreen Fräßdorf

Pink-headed Duck

A bird with extraordinary characteristics About half a century after the extinction of the Himalayan quail in northern India, another monotypic species vanished from the region: the Pink-headed duck, also known as the Bengali pink-headed duck. Although much has been written about this duck, many reports remain incomplete or contradictory.

Pseudophilautus hypomelas from Sri Lanka was considered lost for over 130 years before it was rediscovered in 2010. The species is classified as endangered because it is known only from a small area. (© L.J. Mendis Wickramasinghe, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-07-18 Doreen Fräßdorf

Incredible Rediscovery of the Brown-eared Shrub Frog in India

A recent study published in the journal Zootaxa reports the rediscovery of the brown-eared shrub frog (Pseudophilautus regius) – approximately 700 kilometers away from its previously known distribution range. The brown-eared shrub frog, originally native to the forests of Sri Lanka, was found by researchers in the Indian state of