Doreen Fräßdorf - Species Extinction

This is what remains of the holotype of the Ainsworth's salamander. The specimen is kept in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. (© DesmognathusFuscus, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-06-10 Doreen Fräßdorf

Ainsworth’s salamander

Last seen in 1964: Plethodon ainsworthi, sp. nov. Ainsworth’s salamander is known only from two specimens collected by biologist Jackson Harold Ainsworth in 1964, two miles south of Bay Springs in Jasper County, Mississippi. Ainsworth initially assumed that these individuals were Northern slimy salamanders (Plethodon glutinosus). However, more than 30

Brazilian diving beetle Megadytes ducalis

A+D: Megadytes ducalis (Brazilian diving beetle), B+E: M. lherminieri, C+F: M. magnus (© L. Hendrich, M. Manuel, M. Balke: The Return of the Duke, Vol. 4586 No. 3: 18 Apr. 2019, Licensed under CC BY 3.0)

2024-06-10 Doreen Fräßdorf

Brazilian diving beetle

“Giant of the Dytiscidae” Until recently, the Brazilian diving beetle Megadytes ducalis was known only from a single male specimen, which, according to rumors, was discovered before 1882 at the bottom of a water-filled canoe in the Amazon region of Brazil. It is currently housed at the Natural History Museum

Hula bream (Acanthobrama hulensis) - same genus: Yarkon Bream (Acanthobrama telavivensis)

There are few images of the Hula bream. The photo shows the Yarkon bream (Acanthobrama telavivensis) from Israel, which belongs to the same genus. (© MERRYcristhmas, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-06-10 Doreen Fräßdorf

Hula bream

Drainage of lake and wetland led to extinction of fauna The wetlands surrounding the 20 square kilometer Hula Lake (also known as Hula Lake, Chula Lake) in Israel were artificially drained in the 1950s to create agricultural land. Within a few years, the endemic fauna of the lake – including

Similar to Amsterdam wigeon: Auckland duck (Anas aucklandica)

According to the ornithologists Olson and Jouventin, the extinct Amsterdam wigeon is similar to the Auckland duck (Anas aucklandica; see picture), which still exists today and is also flightless. The picture by John Gerrard Keulemans appeared in the book Buller's Birds of New Zealand (1988). (© John Gerrard Keulemans, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-06-10 Doreen Fräßdorf

Amsterdam wigeon

Amsterdam duck was barely larger than a thrush Both Amsterdam Island and Saint Paul are more than 3,000 kilometers away from continents. Yet, or perhaps because of this, the islands were often visited by early sailors and their accompanying animals, leading to the extinction of all endemic birds there before

Male and female Tasmanian tiger, photographed around 1904 at the Washington D.C. National Zoo. (© Baker; E.J. Keller., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-06-10 Doreen Fräßdorf

Thylacine

Tasmanian wolf or Tasmanian tiger: Neither wolf nor tiger The name Tasmanian wolf might be misleading, as that animal was neither a wolf nor did it resemble one. Rather, its physique was more similar to a dog or dingo; with shorter front legs than hind legs, the thylacine even resembled

reintroduction to Palmyra: guam kingfisher

A Guam kingfisher from the conservation breeding program at the San Diego Zoo in the USA. (© Kjunstorm, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-06-05 Doreen Fräßdorf

Guam kingfisher: Reintroduction to Palmyra after extinction in the wild

The Guam kingfisher, last seen in the wild in 1986, is now poised to return to nature. After successful breeding in captivity, it is planned to release the offspring of this nearly extinct bird species on Palmyra Atoll. This remote atoll, located about 1,600 kilometers southwest of Hawaii, offers a

Bones of the North Island giant moa at the <a href="https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/" target="_blank" Auckland War Memorial Museum. (© Auckland Museum, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-06-01 Doreen Fräßdorf

North Island Giant Moa

The second largest moa species This moa species inhabited bush, grass, and dune lands, as well as forests on New Zealand’s North Island. The North Island giant moa is considered the second largest moa species. The largest species is the South Island giant moa, which was endemic to New Zealand’s

The bush moa is the smallest moa species known to date. It was only slightly larger than today's turkeys and reached a weight of around 30 kilograms. The flightless bird died out around 500 to 600 years ago with the colonisation of New Zealand. (© Auckland Museum, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-05-30 Doreen Fräßdorf

Deciphered Bush Moa genome provides insights into New Zealand’s extinct avian world

A team of evolutionary biologists has reconstructed the nearly complete genome of the bush moa (Anomalopteryx didiformis), a flightless bird from New Zealand that went extinct 500 to 600 years ago. Researchers from Harvard University, East Carolina University, Osaka University, and the University of Toronto sequenced ancient DNA from a

Replica of the Gigarcanum or Kawekaweau gecko from the Lille Natural History Museum in France. (© Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Lille, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-05-30 Doreen Fräßdorf

Gigarcanum (Giant Gecko)

The largest gecko in the world… In the early 1980s, French museum employee Alain Delcourt discovered a forgotten specimen of a single stuffed giant gecko in the basement of the Natural History Museum of Marseille, which had previously been on public display for years. This species was previously unknown to